


Do I Wanna Know?

by alongwayfromtheplayground (thedarksideofthemoon)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Getting Together, Harry Potter AU, M/M, Niall Horan & Louis Tomlinson Friendship, No Smut, POV Louis Tomlinson, Pining, Potter Direction, Quidditch, Quidditch Player Harry Styles, Quidditch Player Louis Tomlinson, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25925371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedarksideofthemoon/pseuds/alongwayfromtheplayground
Summary: He looks way too young to be one of the scouts, who, in Louis’ experience, tend to be old ugly men. Louis has never wanted to run his hands all over a scout before, and it would be tragic if this boy ruins that. Either way, he’s not supposed to be on the pitch unsupervised.Louis starts walking over in his direction, his broom hanging loosely in his hand, and yells, “Oi! This is a closed practice mate! The visitor center is located in that big castle over there. You need special permission to be here.”He turns his head to face Louis, and Louis is floored by how absolutely pretty this boy is. He smiles and dimples appear on his cheeks. His green eyes are bright and pure, and Louis is fucked. “And who says I don’t have special permission?” the boy drawls in a deep voice.Louis Tomlinson attends an elite Quidditch academy, and is looking forward to the day he is signed to a professional team. However, the arrival of Harry Styles, the son of a famous Chaser, puts a wrench in his plans. Suddenly, Louis' path to success doesn't seem that straightforward, and Louis isn't about to let some privileged boy stand in the way of his dreams.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 52
Collections: Potter direction : Round Three





	Do I Wanna Know?

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this! It's one of the longest pieces I've written, and I'm really proud of it. I definitely wrote most of it in the last couple days, but I think I pulled it off :) The title comes from the Arctic Monkeys song. I listened to it way too much when writing this, so it was only fitting I used it for the title.
> 
> Thank you to @potterdirectionficexchange for hosting this fest!
> 
> All mistakes are my own.

“Fuck!” Louis swears loudly as his fingers clutch helplessly at empty air. The Snitch he had been chasing after dips sharply and rapidly speeds off in the opposite direction from Louis’ current trajectory. He stops abruptly in mid air on his Firebolt 28. While Louis feels confident he could make a clean turn on his old Shooting Star 500, he doesn’t quite trust his skills on his new broom. Louis wraps his hands on his broom and clenches in frustration. He’s quite high up, so the wind is picking up around him. It’s the evening time, and the sun is just starting to erupt into the pink and orange hues that precede darkness. Out here in the isolated countryside, the sights and sounds of nature feel fresher.

Louis has been using the Firebolt for a little over a month now. For the first week, he had to remaster the basic skills he learned as a child. This new broom had different turning speeds, and it responded a lot faster to Louis’ thoughts and movements. He admits he looked a little twitchy on it at first, which gave Niall immense pleasure to watch, but, a month in, Louis feels more confident that he doesn’t look quite as green. 

The Firebolt is a gift from his parents for passing all his O.W.Ls last year. It’s a gift that Louis will treasure until his dying days; while his family is not poor, they definitely are not rich enough to casually purchase a Firebolt. Education has never been his first priority in life, but in order to keep playing Quidditch, Louis had to prove to his parents that he can be a competent wizard off of a broom. 

Louis is starting his third year at Premier Quidditch Academy. PQA is the first competitive Quidditch-focused training program for under 17s. Prior to the establishment of the academy, most professional Quidditch teams were forced to do their own scouting through various wizarding schools and other amateur Quidditch leagues and matches. This made finding talented players unreliable; teams could go a full year without finding a flyer who would fit their needs. However, when PQA opened ten years ago, most teams looked for the majority of their new recruits from PQA’s hand-selected students.

Louis was six when he first heard his parents talking about the new Quidditch school. It was the front page of the Daily Prophet for a good three months. The academy was created and fully funded by the Broadmoor brothers, Kevin and Karl. They were world famous Beaters for the Falmouth Falcons from 1958 - 1969, and they led the Falcons to numerous European League titles. The Broadmoor brothers had long since retired, but they still kept active in the Quidditch scene. The brothers lamented over the dismal lack of talent they were seeing in the younger players, so, fifteen years ago, they decided to take action. In order to remedy this, they proceeded to fund and build a world class Quidditch academy, aimed specifically at recruiting and molding new talent. The purpose of this school, according to Kevin, was to make Quidditch competitive again. The world must be tired of seeing the same two teams win all of the titles, they stated. 

Within a few years, the brothers had amassed a large group of benefactors, all interested in bringing glory and excitement back to the sport; rich families in the wizarding world relied too much on Quidditch for entertainment. Through these supporters, the brothers founded Premier Quidditch Academy, and purchased an abandoned estate in the English countryside and built a state-of-the-art training center. They renamed the grounds as Broadmoor Estate, but kept the name of the castle, Mulberry. They opened it to all interested youngsters who were allowed to attend free of charge. Of course, you had to be able to get in first, and that process was no walk in the park.

It took only two minutes of baby Louis riding his first starter broom at age two to realize that flying was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. So, when PQA was established, Louis was determined to attend the school. 

A sharp whistle sounds, and Louis looks down to see Coach Peterson sending multicolored sparks up with his wand. That combined with the sound signalled to everyone currently flying to land their brooms. 

Louis wipes sweat off of his brow and makes his way down to the ground. He still can’t get over how smooth the mechanics of the Firebolt are. Even flying in a straight line is suddenly so exciting. He comes to a gentle stop on the ground, and joins the group of his fellow teammates.

“Good first practice, flyers,” Peterson bellows. “I know that you are all excited to be back with your friends, but I want to stress that this year is bound to be the most important of your fledgling Quidditch careers.” 

As Peterson begins his speech, Louis clutches his broom nervously and takes few calming breaths. He knows this is the most important year since he’s been at PQA, but somehow hearing it said out loud makes it all too real.

“You all are starting your third year at the academy, and this is when it starts to get serious,” Peterson says, his tone sobering. “When you all first arrived as bright-eyed fourteen year olds, you had no idea the kind of training and passion that would be required to make it in the big leagues. I’d like to think that every one of you standing before me has the chance to be signed on a professional team. There was a reason the other coaches and I selected you specifically from the thousands of hopefuls that year.”

Peterson pauses his speech and looks at each of them in the eye. When his eyes reach Louis’, Louis feels a sense of pride in himself.

“But this is the year where the scouts from some of the best teams in the world will take note of you. It’s up to you to show them that you have what it takes to succeed in a high pressure environment, and succeed consistently at that.” Peterson pauses for dramatic effect. He does that sometimes, the bastard. “Alright, enough of the scary stuff. Hit the showers, and we’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Remember that the newbies are coming soon, and I want you to make them feel at home.”

Louis claps along with the rest of the group, and searches for Niall. Louis and Niall had been the only two from Hogwarts who were accepted into PQA during their year. Louis had been the star Seeker for his house Gryffindor’s team, while Niall had been the youngest and smallest Beater on the Hufflepuff team. He had more of a Seeker’s build, but Niall has never let that discourage him from whacking the shit out of any opposing team member. What he lacks in size he makes up for in raw power.

Louis feels a hand on his back, and turns to meet Niall with a smile. “Niall, mate, it’s so good to see you!” Louis exclaims. 

Niall laughs and smothers Louis in a hug. Niall’s always been a hugger, which means Louis tends to be on the receiving end of his bear hugs. 

“Lou, buddy, long time no see!” Niall says. “How’s the family? How was summer? Are your folks still forcing you to study?” 

Louis groans as he and Niall start walking back to Mulberry from the pitch. “Don’t even get me started Ni. I spent 90 percent of my break reading textbooks and practicing wand movements.”

Unfortunately for Louis, one of his parents’ terms for allowing him to attend PQA was that Louis keeps up with the curriculum he would have learned at Hogwarts. Whether this means during his summers off from PQA or after practices, Louis needed to be somewhat competent at charms and transfiguration spells. While his family had full faith in his Quidditch abilities, Louis’ mother didn’t want Louis to be a useless wizard if the professional sports gig didn’t work out. After all, she is not about to let Louis mooch off of her for the rest of his life. With a gaggle of other kids already, she has no time for Louis to be dependent on her.

“Can you believe she even sent me the Hogwarts sixth year book list already? I’m pretty sure the second I get to my room, there will be an owl and a package waiting for me.”

Niall chuckles loudly, and Louis is once again envious of the fact that Niall doesn’t really have to worry about money or if Quidditch doesn’t work out for him. The Horans are rolling in gold, and any amount that Niall spends won’t really put a dent in their fortune.

“Ah she just cares about you Lou,” Niall says. “Plus, I need you to be the smart one in our relationship. I don’t want to practice turning a plate into a hat if you can just do it for me.”

“Are you planning on me being some sort of live-in servant for the rest of our lives? Also, since when do you wear hats?”

“No don’t be stupid. You don’t have to always live with me! I’ll just firecall you when I need you!” 

Louis and Niall both laugh as they get to the entrance of the castle that housed the dorms and the dining hall, and split up to head to their respective rooms. 

What Louis loves the most about Mulberry is how beautifully it blended classical architecture and modern amenities. The exterior of the castle still has the strong, gray, stone walls, weathered by thousands of storms, but the interior is clean and one of the most upgraded wizarding buildings in the country. It has the best parts of Hogwarts, so Louis doesn’t feel too disappointed about missing out on the Hogwarts experience.

In PQA, flyers are placed in dorms according to their position. Each year, the coaches at PQA evaluate all potential recruits based on their flying abilities, their knowledge of Quidditch strategy, and sheer natural talent. While the first two requirements could be mastered with years of practice, instinct cannot be taught, and this is what is used to single out the best of the potentials. What made PQA so competitive is the fact that only a single team’s worth of players are accepted each year. A total of seven hopefuls are selected – one Keeper, two Beaters, three Chasers, and one Seeker. 

Since Louis is a Seeker, his dorm is one of the smallest. There are only three other recruits who are Seekers at PQA–one for each of the four years–and each of them get their own room. Melissa graduated last year, and is now a third string Seeker on Puddlemere United, and the new recruit will take her old room. Marcus is now the oldest Seeker, and Louis knows he has his heart set on Chudley Cannons, a fact that everyone is confused about. Marcus claims he can be the savior that finally puts the Cannons at the top of the table. Personally, Louis doesn’t really think it’s even possible, but he’s happy to let Marcus dream. The last Seeker is Bebe. She is one of the loveliest and bubbliest people at PQA. She says that she’s happy to land on any team that will take her. Louis privately thinks that’s horseshit and that Bebe really wants to join the Holyhead Harpies. 

Louis showers quickly in the Seekers’ bathroom and slips on some sweats and a fleece sweater. Again, he’s very glad he doesn’t have to wear some sort of stuffy uniform; Louis could happily live his entire life in a pair of sweatpants. 

He grabs Bebe from the Seekers’ common room, and they both head to the dining hall for dinner. As they walk over, Louis asks Bebe about her first day of practice. 

“Well I’ll tell you one thing,” Bebe starts. “I felt a million times more confident on my first day this year than I did last year. Man, being a second year is infinitely better than being a first year.” 

Louis grins. “I totally agree. I remember coming back last year and feeling so much more at home. I think for those few months, I kept waiting for Peterson to pull me aside and tell me that the council is kicking me out of PQA.”

“Oh shut the fuck up Louis,” Bebe snarks. “You’re one of the best flyers at the academy. Do you know how many times freaking Collins mentions you during our practices? At least once! And even more to me because I’m the Seeker!”

Louis blushes, “Stop Bebe. Collins doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s not even my coach.”

“Oh she hears Peterson rave about you in the coaches meeting, I’m sure,” Bebe says, nudging Louis with her elbow. At PQA, each set of recruits had the same coach all four years as an attempt to make students more comfortable receiving advice and criticism; on a professional team, you could have the same coach for the entirety of your career.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to think about it.”

Louis and Bebe enter the dining hall, and Louis immediately heads toward Niall and Liam. Liam Payne is one of the Chasers in his year, and was the first friend that Louis and Niall made at PQA. Liam is tall and has added even more muscle to his already well-toned body. This year his hair is in long wavy brown locks with a hint of highlights. You can never predict what hairstyle Liam will go for, Louis has learned. One day it’s dyed, the next day it’s all buzzed off. Liam’s family owns a wizarding hair salon, so Louis figures it’s in his blood to experiment with hair. 

Liam’s parents were terrified during the Great War, so even when it ended, they kept all of their children close. Liam had been homeschooled for fourteen years, and didn’t really interact with other people his age until he started at PQA. So when he, Louis, and Niall were placed together for a drill during their first week at the academy, he latched on to them and never really looked back. Louis doesn’t think he would have enjoyed his time here if it weren’t for Liam and Niall.

“Alright, lads?” Louis asks as he sits down in front of an empty place setting. Unfortunately, since everyone at PQA is technically training to be professional athletes, the menu options that are provided are only the healthy kind. Louis fills his plate with chicken, brown rice, and, reluctantly, some vegetables. 

“Doing swell, Lou, thanks for asking,” Liam replies. “How was your summer? Niall tells me you’ve been studying again.”

“Yeah, my mother is still drinking the crazy juice,” Louis rolls his eyes. “I mean, at the very least, my summer wasn’t boring. The first half was basically me studying for the O.W.Ls. At least this time, my younger sister Lottie was also forced to read books. Apparently if she doesn’t read ahead for second year, she’s doomed to fail. I swear that woman has no faith in her children.”

Liam and Niall laugh. “I don’t think that’s what that means Louis,” Liam starts. “Your mum just cares about you, which is a good thing. What about you Niall? Any fun adventures to share?”

“Well, I spent a good chunk of time with my cousin Devlin, you know, the one who breeds crups? Gotta say, I didn’t help with anything important, mostly just playing with the puppies. And then I went to visit my other cousin Noreen who snuck me in to some of the rooms in the Department of Mysteries, which was fucking wild. She’s an Unspeakable, but clearly not a very good one. And then I spent the rest of my time going to those god awful high society balls and parties that rich families continue to waste time hosting.”

“Damn Niall, that sounds sick,” Louis says enviously. “What I would give to be rich as fuck.”

Niall laughs. “Eh, you’re fine.” He then turns to Liam and asks, “Liam I heard that something went down in the Chasers’ dorm before dinner. Spill.”

This was the first time Louis was hearing about this. Somehow Niall just knows things before they happen. He swears he’s got some Seer blood in him, but Louis’ certain Niall is just a nosy bastard.

“Well, you know how the Chasers’ dorm is the biggest right? Well, we’re all assigned a room in a suite, and each suite is assigned a year. So me, Nick, and Cara all get our own rooms, but there’s always been this extra room that's attached to the common room, and not in any of the suites.”

“Oh yeah,” Louis interjects. “We have, like, a guest room type thing as well. It’s never been used I think.” Niall nods to imply the same.

“Here’s the thing,” Liam continues. “We saw some house elves cleaning it out today, and putting in new bedding and polishing the furniture. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that someone is going to be using that room. And not any of the new first years that are coming.”

“That’s insane! Who would use it?” Niall wonders. “Aren’t there staff rooms and like more official guest rooms somewhere else in the castle? Like where do council members stay when they are here observing us?”

“Exactly! That’s why all us Chasers were baffled,” Liam exclaims. “It has to be like another recruit or flyer or something. It’s the only thing that would make sense.”

“That’s bullshit Liam,” Louis scoffs. “PQA doesn’t just accept extra people. That goes against like 50 code of conduct rules!”

Liam shrugged. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I just tell it like it is.”

“Either way Li, keep us posted. You know I like to be up to date on gossip,” Niall informs. 

They move on to talking about the upcoming Quidditch season, and which teams have the best chance at topping the European table. It’s a topic that every single person in the castle has strong opinions about, and they are all different. The trio only pause in their conversations when the food platters start disappearing from the many tables, indicating that the dining hall is closing. Louis bids Liam and Niall goodbye as the three split to head to their respective dorms. 

Louis enters his room and finds an owl from his family waiting for him. His mum sent him some pastries that she had made earlier in the day, and Louis gratefully eats two of them. He might be in training, but he’s also sixteen. Even though it is barely 9:45 on a Monday, Louis knows he needs to sleep soon. The days are long and hard, and the first week back is always the most exhausting. After fucking about and reading books for most of his summer, Louis’ body and brain has not yet switched back to his training schedule.

At PQA, the mornings are reserved for theory or watching films from important matches. Studying how professionals flew and how they assess situations really builds up your sports IQ. Louis has seen footage from hundreds of different players, and he always tries to pick one aspect of their style to use in his own techniques. The afternoons are always spent in the air, whether it was for scrimmages, drills, solo skill work, or actual games. 

Tuesdays, however, are special. On Tuesdays, Peterson meets with each of the seven flyers in their year and does a deep dive and critique. Louis has learned the most about himself during these one-on-one sessions. Since today is Monday, Louis is looking forward to hearing Peterson’s plan for him for the upcoming year. 

Louis is lounging on his bed playing idly with a Snitch. One of his childhood friends Oli had gifted him the Snitch for his eighth birthday. Since it was a brand new Snitch, it responded only when Louis touched it, since Snitches have flesh memories. Louis releases the Snitch from his hand and lets it fly about a foot away before he swipes it back. It’s one of the training exercises that Peterson first taught him. It allows him to recognize and improve his reach. And, by switching using his left and right hands, Louis can be prepared to catch the Snitch on either side of his body.

Louis hears a soft knock on his door, and waves his wand to let the visitor in. It’s Niall, and he’s dressed similarly to Louis in sleep clothes. Both Louis and Niall have large and loud families, and are used to being around a lot of people. Living at Hogwarts most of the year certainly didn’t change that. When they both moved into Mulberry, Niall and Louis often made their way to each other’s rooms, just because sleeping by themselves was almost too claustrophobic and quiet. It’s one quirk that they both haven’t grown out of in the two years they have been at PQA. Both of them have never been good at living with their own thoughts.

“Can’t sleep?” Louis asks. Niall shakes his head and shoots Louis a smile. 

“You know me too well boo,” Niall says. Louis permanently enlarged his bed years ago to double the size, so Niall slips in comfortably. During their first year, they would switch sleeping in each other’s rooms, but soon transitioned to using Louis’ room only since there are less Seekers, and therefore would have less people questioning their behavior. Louis supposes Bebe and Marcus are used to this by now.

“Thought this year might be different, maybe,” Louis quips. “Thought I wouldn’t see your pasty ass slinking through the door.”

“Oh fuck off, it’s day one, give me a break.”

Louis reaches over and pinches Niall’s cheek. “You know you’re always welcome here, my Irish teddy bear.” 

Niall slaps Louis’ hands away and snuggles down into the bed. Niall only shows up a couple times a week, but Louis would never turn him away if he showed up every day. Liam has questioned this ritual before, but the few times he’s joined the snuggle fest, he’s given it rave reviews.

Louis gets out of bed and turns off all of the lights except for a small lamp near his desk. He still needs to write some letters to his family, and if he puts it off for tomorrow, it will never get written. Niall is softly snoring, and Louis is ready to join him.

He writes two quick notes, one for his sisters and the other for his mother, to send in the morning. He then gets into bed and pulls the covers over his head, and falls into a dreamless sleep almost immediately.

\---

The next morning, Louis wakes up later than usual, ignoring his buzzing wand. Niall has already left his room by this point, and Louis is surprised he didn’t hear him go. Since it’s a Tuesday, he really only has to make it to his conference with Peterson on time, and his meeting is scheduled for after lunch. He fumbles around his bedside table until his hands come into contact with his watch. He rubs his eyes furiously to get the sleep out of them, and sees that he’s slept past breakfast, which usually ends at 10. Since he’s still got his box of pastries from his mum, he’s not too bothered about this. 

His meeting with Peterson is scheduled for late afternoon, so by the time he’s heading to Peterson’s office in the castle, Louis is antsy from the anticipation. He knocks on Peterson’s door, in case his meeting with one of Louis’ yearmates has run over. He hears a “Come in!”, so he pushes open the door.

Peterson is sitting at his desk, flipping through a large book. Louis has always loved Peterson’s office. Alongside one of the walls are floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking one of the many Quidditch pitches that surround the grounds of Mulberry. Since his office is on the fifth floor, the highest floor, Louis is eye level with the rings on the pitch. Behind Peterson’s desk is a tall bookcase filled with Quidditch theory books, rulebooks, and biographies of players throughout the ages. Between two of the bookshelves is a large white screen where an old Quidditch game from about 30 years ago is playing out. Quidditch coaches have long since captured the footage from different omnioculars at every match in order to be able to study and view the game at future dates. On Peterson’s desk are stacks of loose paper with hastily drawn plays and notes on each of the third year flyers. Louis can see one of the plays Peterson is developing for the Chasers involves Liam, Nick, and Cara flying at different heights.

The most exciting feature of Peterson’s office was the model sized Quidditch pitch that takes up half of Peterson’s desk. There are seven figurines hovering in the air, and, when describing new plays, Peterson would wave his wand and direct the figurines to move accordingly. Louis was always fascinated with the magic that went into creating such a contraption. Perhaps a backup plan if professional Quidditch doesn’t work out for him

“Ah, Louis, come sit down son, you’re my last appointment of the day,” Peterson gestures. Louis sits in one of the dark blue armchairs in front of the desk and places his hands underneath his thighs to keep them warm. 

“First off, welcome back to another year of PQA. It’s our first meeting of the year, and, as usual, I want to hear about your summer,” Peterson starts.

Louis smiles. Peterson has such a way of making sure you were always comfortable. “My summer was pretty boring. I spent most of my time reading textbooks at the request of my dear mother. If you want to know about Gamp’s Law, I’m all over it.”

Peterson chuckles. “You’ve got a strong mother. I can’t tell you how many Quidditch players are absolutely shit at basic magic because they spent all of their time on brooms. In a few years, you’ll be grateful you spent all of this time becoming a competent wizard. As much as we preach it in this school, Quidditch isn’t everything.”

“I suppose so, but I feel justified to bitch about it while I can.” 

“Fair enough.” Peterson pulls out a blank parchment and sets his bright magenta Quick Quotes Quill to take notes of the meeting.

“Now Louis, you’ve made it to the third year at PQA. This year is when things get more serious. Talent scouts from Quidditch teams around the country are going to be interested in your progress come December. Louis, I’m not being biased when I say that you are one of the strongest candidates we have ever had here. There have been several eyes on you since we first started.”

Louis is shocked. He definitely didn’t realize that scouts were already paying attention. He had known that third year was when it got more serious, so it is a bit of a surprise to know that he had caught the attention of teams even earlier. Professional teams are allowed to start actively looking at PQA recruits halfway during the third year, around December, during the exhibition matches.

The exhibition matches are a way for the flyers in third and fourth year to show off their skills and make the best impression on the various professional teams that attend. The matches are also open to the general public as well; players that create the most media buzz might get an extra bonus point with the scouts. 

Your first exhibition match will be in December of your third year, and you will play against the current fourth year students at PQA. There will also be a match in June, during the last few weeks of the season. Once you become a fourth year, your exhibition matches will be played against the new third year students. This provides a nice way of showing off your skills against different opponents.

Usually scouts focus on the fourth year students, but occasionally a third year flyer will outshine any of the fourth years. Teams prefer to do major signings during fourth year; the Quidditch board requires any professional player to be at least 17 years old. This is the major restriction that keeps scouts from looking at PQA players earlier than the third year. The last person signed an early contract was a Keeper three years ago, and he’s first string Keeper for the Tutshill Tornados now.

“Louis, I know you are a stellar flyer. You pick up on new techniques relatively quickly, and I know how hard you practice.”

Louis nods. “Quidditch is my life, coach. I probably spend more time on the pitch than most people here. I’ve been telling you since I first came here, but I really want to make it big. I know it's a pipe dream, but I think I’ve got a shot,” Louis says passionately.

“Kid, I promise you, that dream is more reachable than you think it is,” Peterson responds. “But you can be the best flyer in the world and still not succeed on a Quidditch team.”

Louis tilts his head, befuddled. “I..I don’t follow.”

“Tomlinson, technical skills are only one part of the equation of being a good Quidditch player. What do all of the best Quidditch teams have in common? Think. The ‘95 Montrose Magpies squad, the ‘84 Puddlemere United team? They all had excellent communication. Those players flew so well because they were in tune with their teammates and could read each other’s moves. Why do you think the Legilimency scandal with that American team ten years back was such a big deal?”

“I guess I hadn’t realized how much went into the communication part. I... I considered that less important than knowing how to dive well.”

“That’s the trap that 90 percent of people fall into, son.”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with me? I’m a Seeker. We kind of operate on our own for the most part.”

“Ah Louis, that’s where you are wrong,” Peterson smiles. “The good Seekers focus on the Snitch and can win the game for their team. The _great_ Seekers can use their position to run the whole show.”

“What do you mean?” Louis asks.

“Seekers are somewhat separated from the rest of the play. You know this.”

“I mean, yeah,” Louis acknowledges. “We fly at all different heights and all around the pitch. We are really at the mercy of the Snitch.” 

“Exactly. Because of this, you have the unique opportunity to control the game. Why do you think so many captains are Seekers? Because they are able to fly around the pitch unencumbered, and they can see everything. They don’t need to constantly know where the Quaffle is, like the Chasers or the Keeper. They don’t even really need to keep that close of an eye on the Bludgers. At least, not like the Beaters do. Seekers can view the whole game like an outsider, and pick up on weaknesses in their opponents. Once they’ve got a read, they need to communicate this to their teammates.”

Louis is floored. It’s so simple, but his brain never picked up on it. “I can’t believe I never noticed that. I’m so blind.”

“Louis you are not alone. Almost every Seeker I train does not realize this. But now that you are let in on this secret, what are you going to do about it? Are you ready to step up and learn how to lead? Because _that_ is what will set you apart from the others who have just as much talent as you. Your leadership qualities will take you to the top.”

Louis is determined to get there. Peterson is literally handing a future starting position to him on a plate, and it would be arrogant of Louis to not listen to him.

“But, how do I do that? I know we have friendlies against each other during practices, but that can’t be the only place I get to uh... lead?” Louis questions.

“No that shouldn’t be where you learn. You should test out your skills in those matches. Leading starts _off_ the pitch. Learn how your fellow teammates react to things, learn how they work, and learn what makes them tick. But most importantly, they must respect you. That is the only way to become a great leader. You need to have their backs as much as they have yours.”

“Okay fine, agreed, but how do I DO that?” Louis asks. “How do you just...gain respect? Like do I do their homework or some shit like that?”

Peterson laughs. “Louis it’s not as simple as that. If it was, then everyone I train would be superstars. There’s no formula for becoming a leader. That’s what makes it so hard and so rewarding when you become one.”

“This is all so frustrating. How do you know you’ve become one?”

“You’ll know it after it happens.”

“You’re a real asshole aren’t you, coach,” Louis glares, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Peterson chuckles and reaches across his desk to ruffle Louis’ hair. Louis swipes at his hand before he can do too much damage. “Oh Tomlinson, I so will miss your sparkling personality.” He glances at the clock hanging behind Louis’ head and notes that over an hour has passed. “Alright, now get out of here. I suspect you have a lot to think about. I think this year is going to be an important one for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Louis heaves himself out of the armchair, gives Peterson a salute, and heads out of the door. 

Louis steps out in the hallway and decides to head to Niall’s room. If Peterson expects him to be some sort of leader, he needs to be able to at least be in close contact with every person in his year. Louis hasn’t spent much time with Niall’s partner Richie. The other Beater tended to be much calmer than his counterpart. Louis supposes it makes sense since Niall had enough personality for the two of them.

\---

It’s been almost a week since Louis had his meeting with Peterson, and this whole “becoming a leader” task is proving to be tricky. He had mentioned his talk to both Niall and Liam, and they both assured him that the whole year pretty much thinks Louis’ a shoe-in for a professional team spot. And while Louis appreciates the confidence, it hasn’t really done much to quell his insecurities.

He’s scanning the pitch right now for one of the Snitches that have been released. Peterson released three at the top of the hour, and he has only 60 minutes to try and catch all of them or he has to run extra laps after practice is over. Louis caught the first one less than ten minutes into the session, so he’s got another 40 minutes to get the other two. 

Right now, Niall and Richie are hitting a Bludger back and forth on one half of the pitch. They are both trying to make it difficult for the other to reach it. Peterson has projected large pink floating rectangles made of smoke behind both Niall and Richie. If the Bludger disturbes the rectangle, they also will be required to run laps after practice today. 

On the other half of the pitch, Peterson is teaching the Chasers a new play he’s developed, a twist on the Porskoff Ploy. The Porskoff Ploy has one Chaser fly high into the air with the Quaffle to make the opposing Chasers take their focus off the other two Chasers. Then, the Chaser with the Quaffle drops it down into their teammates hand. It’s a pretty popular play, so most teams are able to predict and stop it from working. In Peterson’s twist, the person with the Quaffle flies lower down and tosses the Quaffle up instead. It’s a riskier play since it’s harder to aim your toss correctly. 

Louis watches as Liam tosses the Quaffle up to Cara, but it ends up behind her, leaving Nick to chase after the dropping ball. Out of the corner of his eye, Louis notices a golden glint near the bottom of the goal posts and flies directly at the Snitch. This Snitch is staying close to the ground, so he’s going to have to time his descent correctly. He’s ended up with too many broken arms in the past. Louis urges his Firebolt closer and closer to the ground and pulls up at the last second with the Snitch firmly in his left hand. Since he’s so close to the ground, he flings himself off it to tumble gently on the grass. His broom lands perfectly beside him. Two down, one to go. 

Louis stands up and brushes off some blades of grass that have gotten caught in his hair when he notices a person standing near the bottom of the stands. He’s slightly taller than Louis with curly brown hair. His hair is slightly past shoulder length, and he’s got most of it tucked behind his ears. A few of the strands seem to have escaped and are leaning gently against his cheekbones. He’s got a slight smile on his face as he watches the practice going on above him. 

He can’t be any older than Louis, but Louis has definitely never seen him before. The new set of recruits are only due to arrive on Thursday, and it’s only Monday. He’s dressed similarly to Louis in a basic Quidditch uniform. He’s got on the tight lycra pants that all Quidditch players wear in black, but none of the protective shin and arm guards that are required during a Quidditch match. He’s got on a white, long sleeve shirt that clings to his lean body. If he squints closely, Louis can see a small bird logo on his shirt, most likely the symbol of the Montrose Magpies. In his hand, the boy has got a broom, and definitely an expensive one by the looks of it. 

He looks way too young to be one of the scouts, who, in Louis’ experience, tend to be old ugly men. Louis has never wanted to run his hands all over a scout before, and it would be tragic if this boy ruins that. Either way, he’s not supposed to be on the pitch unsupervised.

Louis starts walking over in his direction, his broom hanging loosely in his hand, and yells, “Oi! This is a closed practice mate! The visitor center is located in that big castle over there. You need special permission to be here.”

He turns his head to face Louis, and Louis is floored by how absolutely pretty this boy is. He smiles and dimples appear on his cheeks. His green eyes are bright and pure, and Louis is fucked. “And who says I don’t have special permission?” the boy drawls in a deep voice. 

“You! Have special permission?” Louis laughs as he gets closer. He recognizes the broom as the Nimbus 3500, one of the newest and priciest brooms around. You don’t get this broom just for show; it’s designed specifically for professional Quidditch players, and ordinary wizards can’t get their hands on one easily. “I’m pretty sure they don’t let any random bloke just watch. Tours are usually on Fridays, so if you want to come back then…”

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” the boy smirks, putting his left hand on his hip. “Believe me, I am definitely someone you don’t want to piss off.”

Okay, now Louis is a little ticked off. He doesn’t give a shit how soft this man’s lips look. Clearly this guy has no respect for others, and has no idea who _Louis_ is. “Excuse me, mate? Who the fuck do you think you are?” 

Louis’ raised voice seems to have caught the attention of the rest of his teammates. Peterson comes flying down quickly when he notices the newcomer. He lands in between Louis and the interloper and immediately smiles at the boy. He puts his hand out and enthusiastically shakes the boy’s hand.

“Harry!” Peterson says. “I’m so glad you found your way to the pitch! I trust the house elves at Mulberry sorted you out?”

“Hello Coach Peterson,” the boy, or Harry, as Louis now knows, answers brightly. “Yes thank you, they were very kind. I’m very excited to be here.” 

By now, the rest of Louis' team has landed and are gathered behind him. 

Peterson turns to face Louis and the rest of his team and grins, “Third years, I’d like to welcome a special addition to our team this year. This is Harry Styles. You might know him as the son of Des Styles, the former Chaser of the award-winning Magpies squad and the English National Team.”

Oh shit. That’s why Harry looks vaguely familiar, not that Louis was trying to place him. Louis has seen him in the crowd and in the background of interviews with Magpies players. Louis can remember Des bringing his son out years ago, and Louis thinks he’s even seen a picture of Harry in Prophet for something too. Now that Louis knows who he is, he can’t believe he didn’t recognize him before. 

Louis feels Niall slap his left shoulder in excitement. He looks over to his right and sees Liam with a similarly shocked look on his face. 

Peterson continues, “Harry is a formidable player in his own right and usually trains privately, but this year he’s going to be joining us.”

Louis’ jaw drops. PQA has the most selective process for admitting students and Harry fucking Styles gets to just waltz in? Louis struggles to keep his face in check. He will definitely be having some strong words with Peterson after practice.

“Harry, would you like to say a few words?” Peterson asks.

Harry nods. “Hey all. I know this is a weird situation, but I truly am excited and humbled to be amongst you all. I hope you can just think of me as one of the team. Please know that I am here first and foremost to learn from each and every one of you. For sixteen years of my life, I’ve lived and breathed Quidditch, so being able to be here at PQA is a dream. I’m excited to get to know all of you!” Harry turns his head in Louis’ direction and winks.

Louis can’t help but narrow his eyes in suspicion. He hears a “What the fuck?” from Niall and a “No fucking way!” from Nick, so it seems like everyone except him is buzzing. 

Peterson claps Harry on the back. “Flyers, I’m going to get Harry sorted up in Mulberry, but I’m leaving Louis in charge to finish up the drills. Make sure to pack the balls away before leaving the pitch.” 

Louis nods. “You heard him, people. Move out.” 

With that, Peterson turns towards Mulberry and leads Harry away. Louis stares at their backs as the rest of his year fly up to resume their drills. He sees Harry turn back to look at him once, before continuing on with Peterson. 

\---

It’s dinner time, and the third years have unofficially gathered to eat on one of the larger rectangular tables. Most of the tables in the dining hall seat 2-6 people, but there are a couple that sat 10. Louis is sitting between Cara and Liam on one of the long ends of the table. On Cara’s left is their Keeper Maisie. At Maisie’s left and at the head of the table is Niall. Nick and Richie sit across from Maisie and Cara on Niall’s left. 

Dinner tonight is some pan seared cod with flatbread and roasted butternut squash. Louis himself isn’t much of a seafood person, but he’s learned to tolerate the taste after eating fish a few times a week. Maisie is vegetarian, so the elves have made her some cauliflower curry to eat. Sometimes on seafood days, Louis will go vegetarian as well, but he’s not a fan of cauliflower, so the fish wins out today. 

The hot topic of discussion today, unsurprisingly, is the illustrious newcomer. 

“I mean he’s got to have connections Cara!” Nick says strongly, waving his fork around. “Think about it! He had enough leverage to get Peterson to let him in! When has that ever happened?”

Cara rolls her eyes. “You’re such a meathead! Harry’s sixteen, where could he have gotten that kind of leverage?”

She turns to Maisie and says, “You’re one of the biggest Magpie groupies out there. You know what Harry Styles is like?”

“Oh I wish,” Maisie sighs. “I’m pretty sure half the reason I still care about the Magpies is because of him. I remember when I was nine and watched Des Styles interviews just to get a glimpse of Harry. I’ve been gone for him ever since.”

Louis feels an irrational surge of jealousy course through his body. _Settle down, idiot,_ he tells his brain. As far as Louis knows, Harry is a prick and it doesn’t matter how interested his body is. He needs to steer the conversation back to safer waters.

Louis cuts in, “Okay moving on, how do you think practices are going to work from now on? Like will he participate in drills? Also how do we know if he’s good enough to keep up with us?”

Next to him, Liam shrugs and says, “I mean I’m happy to give him a chance. I trust that Coach wouldn’t have agreed to this without thinking this through.”

“Fine, agreed Liam,” Louis huffs, pushing his plate aside. “I just don’t want our dynamic to be messed with. I don’t know about you lot, but I happen to think we are the most talented bunch in this place. If we were a professional team, I actually think we would have a decent shot at winning a few games.” Louis sees Niall smile supportively at him, and he shoots Niall a grin back. 

Cara leans over and gives Louis a side hug with an “Aww Louis!”

“You sappy shit,” Niall snarks as the table laughs.

“Thanks Niall, always a pleasure,” Louis retorts. “But seriously, I think we need to be cautious about this, and make sure we aren’t pointing a wand at ourselves. Besides, do we even know what position he plays?”

“Technically I can play any position in a pinch, but I tend to spend most of my time between Chaser and Seeker.”

Louis snaps his head to his right and sees Harry approaching the table. It seems like no one noticed him walking up to the group. Louis blushes when he realizes that Harry clearly overheard them talking about him behind his back. But he doesn’t seem to mind since he sends Louis a small smirk. It doesn’t help Louis’ blush at all.

Harry continues, “I guess if I had to choose one, it would probably be Chaser.” Harry stops near the empty seats on the table. He is still wearing the same clothes he had on earlier in the day, but he seems to have tied his hair in a small bun low on his head.

Niall, ever the mediator, stands up and gestures for Harry to join the table. “Take a seat, Styles! We’re all just a little curious about you. Pay no attention to the fussy one over there.” Niall points his finger at Louis, and Louis’ mouth drops in indignation. 

Harry giggles and takes the open seat next to Richie, which means he’s directly across from Louis. Louis doesn’t know if this is a good thing or not. On one hand, this gives him a chance to study Harry up close and personal to find his weaknesses. On the other hand, staring at Harry hasn’t really done any favors for Louis. 

“I’m really not that interesting,” Harry starts. Louis sees him ladle some of the curry and the squash onto his empty place. “But I’ll give you a quick rundown. I’m sixteen, from Holmes Chapel, and pretty much spent most of my life surrounded by Quidditch. There’s nothing more than that to me. I would really prefer to get to know all of you! Coach Peterson has told me some of your names, and I’d love to be able to match them to faces.”

“Oh of course. I can’t believe we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Liam. I’m a Chaser along with Nick and Cara,” Liam says as he points each person. “The Irish one at the head of the table is Niall, and he along with Richie right next to you are our two Beaters. We have the lovely Maisie here as our Keeper, and finally, our Seeker and unofficial team captain is Louis here.” 

Louis tracks Harry’s eyes as they smile kindly at each new person he is introduced to. When Liam gets to Louis, Louis sees Harry’s eyes light up in recognition. 

“Ah Louis. Peterson’s told me a lot about you. He says you’re the one to talk to if I ever have questions,” Harry states. 

“Um thank you,” Louis replies. He’s surprised that Peterson has already mentioned him to Harry. “I’m happy to help in any way.”

“Blah blah, enough of the boring introductions,” Nick jumps in. “Let’s get to the real talk. Who do you think will top the League table this year and be forewarned, there IS a correct answer.”

“You’re full of shit Nick, stop backing the Tornados since they won last year,” Richie argues.

Louis stays out of the conversation while the others drag Harry into it. Niall switches seats to sit on the other head of the table, and Maisie moves to sit on Harry’s other side. Nick is convinced Harry has insider information about some of the professional teams.

Louis feels an elbow in his left side and turns to see Cara’s questioning face. “You good?” she asks. “You’re usually right in there starting fires. Why so quiet today?”

Louis shrugs. “It’s been a weird day, and I really don’t know how to feel about everything that’s going on.” 

“I get you Lou. If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks Cara.” 

Cara soon gets pulled into a conversation with the rest of the Chasers and Niall about the play they ran in practice today and how Beaters could disrupt it. Niall seems adamant he could hit the Bludger right as the Quaffle is thrown and disrupt the play, while the three Chasers are not as convinced. 

Meanwhile, Harry is talking one on one with Maisie. Louis recognizes her flirting face since she’s been trying to hook up with Marcus for a while now. It looks like Maisie is going straight for the kill, and Louis sees her softly touch Harry’s left arm. Louis’ jaw unintentionally clenches, which is completely irrational. It’s not like Louis has any claim on Harry. And Louis doesn’t even know if he even likes Harry at all. Just because he has a pretty face, it doesn’t mean that Louis should pay any more attention to the person who could very well disrupt his professional league chances. 

Louis hones in on what Maisie is saying and hears her say, “I’d love to test my Keeping skills on a talented Chaser like you. Maybe you’d like to meet up and practice sometime?”

Louis sees Harry grin. Since he doesn’t really know Harry personally, Louis can’t tell how he is receiving Maisie’s signals. 

“That’s very kind of you to say Maisie,” Harry replies, his face looking sweet and innocent. 

“If you’re anything like your dad, I’m sure it would be a fun match,” Maisie simpered. 

At that, Louis sees Harry’s smile flicker. It wasn’t very noticeable, but since Louis has been creepily watching this conversation for the past few minutes he caught the drop in his expression. While Maisie continues to chat up Harry, Louis can see Harry growing more uncomfortable. It is as if something immediately switched in Harry’s mind, and Maisie no longer interested him. 

Louis claps his hands and announces, “I think we have all bothered Harry enough today. I can’t handle all of you on a good day, so imagine what he feels. Let’s call it a night and head up.” 

“Fuck off Louis, you’re the insane one,” Nick banters as he pushes his chair back. The others say their goodnights as they split off towards their respective dorms. Harry sighs quietly in relief. While Harry looked comfortable and confident in their presence, Louis guesses that it’s daunting to be joining a group that is as close as they are. Harry has done a pretty good job of hiding any worries he has, but Louis has always been a nosy fuck and not much escapes his eyes.

“Hey Harry,” Louis calls. “Where have they put you up?”

“Peterson said my stuff would be in the Chasers’ dorm,” Harry replies.

“Great, Liam can be your guide then,” Louis says, nudging Liam in Harry’s direction. Part of Louis is very happy he has a reason to separate Harry and Maisie, who he could tell was itching to walk with Harry.

“Of course, Harry. I’m happy to show the fastest way to get to our dorm,” Liam assures, leading Harry out of the hall. He raises a single eyebrow at Louis as he leaves, and Louis can only shrug in response. 

Niall pulls Louis aside as the dining hall completely empties. He waits a beat until they are alone and then exclaims, “Hello what the fuck Louis? You were completely off today.”

Louis sighs and pulls at his hair, fussing with his fringe. His fingers always need to keep moving, and he doesn’t do too well at sitting still. It’s one of the main reasons Quidditch called him. It allowed his brain and body to stay energized. However, when he’s not up in the air, his fingers usually end up messing with his hair to stay busy. Niall uses this as a sign for when Louis is thinking too hard about something. 

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Louis denies. 

“Lou please. Don’t insult me like that. I know you better than you know yourself, and I know for a fact that Harry Styles has you rattled. So. Spill.”

“I don’t know Niall. I think I’m just stressed. Like this year is one of the most important years of my whole life, and I need it to go right. I don’t have any backup plans in life. I went all in on Quidditch, and I would be so lost without it.”

“I don’t agree that you would be lost, but fine, for the sake of argument, let’s just go with it. This is different from your usual stress Lou. I see those ‘Quidditch is all I’ve got’ breakdowns every so often, so I know what I’m looking for. This is different.”

“Ugh Harry Styles is fine. I don’t hate him or anything. I mean, am I feeling betrayed that Peterson decided to not inform us this was happening? Sure, absolutely. Am I pissed off that Harry fucking Styles can just waltz in here and learn from the best trainers just because? Oh you better fucking believe it. But like, I’m not going to be rude to him or whatever, no matter how much I want to chop off that little bun he’s got.”

“Oh my fucking god. You like him!” Niall looks like a giddy schoolgirl. He puts both his hands on Louis' shoulders and shakes him back and forth. “You have got such a crush on him!”

Louis startles, pushing Niall away. “No, what, NO! What are you talking about, who said that?”

“Louuu this is so cute! Your brain can’t decide whether it wants to kiss him or slap him and it’s absolutely adorable. I’ve never seen you like this in all the years I’ve known you!” 

“Niall fuck off, you have no idea what you are talking about. Keep your voice down!” Louis hisses, shoving his hand over Niall’s mouth.

Niall guffaws, swatting Louis away, “Louis we are the only ones in here, don’t deny it.” 

“Niall I swear to Merlin.”

“Fine, fine,” Niall holds up his hands in peace. “I won’t pry. But, know that I will be watching every single interaction between you both very closely.”

“Niall nothing is going to happen. For all I know he’s probably straight, and Maisie will snatch him up soon.”

Louis starts heading towards the dining hall exit and hears Niall trailing behind him. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that Tommo,” Niall teases. “I think you have a fair shot. I cannot wait to tell Liam.”

“Wait no!” Louis shouts after Niall as he walks down the corridor that leads to the Beaters’ dorm. Louis only hears loud cackles in the distance and swears under his breath.

\---

It’s been just over a month since Harry Styles has shown up and disrupted Louis’ peaceful life. The new recruits have since arrived. Typically, the current second year flyers act as a mentor for the first years, so Louis has been hearing updates about the new Seeker from Bebe. Her name is Nadia, and she is feisty. She’s about as tall as Louis, which is pretty tall for a fourteen year old. Bebe seems excited about having another girl around; both Louis and Bebe have discussed the toxic masculinity that is prevalent in the professional world, so Louis is always happy to have some fresh blood. 

Louis hasn’t really had much direct interaction with Harry, but he has definitely not stopped observing him. Niall may call it “stalking” or “being a weird creep”, but Louis calls it research. Niall has at least kept his word and not spilled to Liam or anyone else about Louis' little fascination with Harry, but Louis can tell that Liam is not completely unaware that at least something is going on. 

Since Harry has not really trained for a specific position, Peterson has been rotating him throughout the team. Harry admitted that of all the positions, his Keeping skills were the most subpar, so Peterson started out by instructing him to run through Chaser drills with Nick, Liam, and Cara. (Harry will spend a month flying in each position.) It helped that Harry is also staying in the Chaser dorm, so Louis could see that Harry was feeling comfortable flying with them.

During meals, the team has been all sitting together this year. For the previous two years, Louis would sit with different groups of people; sometimes with the Chasers, sometimes with Niall and Liam, and sometimes with the Seekers from the other years. There was no particular schedule. But since Harry arrived, the whole year organically gravitated to the large table after practice. 

This did mean that Louis was never forced to talk one-on-one with Harry. Louis still didn’t know quite what to make of him, and for now he was content on learning from afar. From what he’s gathered based on various conversations, Harry has an older sister named Gemma who is not at all connected to the Quidditch world. She has a job in the Ministry, but Louis doesn’t know specifically what she does. Harry, on the other hand, spent the majority of his childhood on the road with his father, going from game to game and sitting in on Magpies practices. Harry doesn’t mention much about his parents, but Louis can tell he loves his mother a great deal from the way he talked about her briefly. Louis can begrudgingly respect any man that has a strong, positive relationship with his mother. 

Louis knows that Harry is due to start a Seeker rotation with him in a couple of days, and he is dreading the stress that will undoubtedly be hitting him. One of the reasons Louis likes flying as a Seeker is that he doesn’t need to rely on another person to do his job. Louis can be a bit of a control freak and a perfectionist, so becoming a Seeker was only natural. Seekers can be very narcissistic people, so Louis tries to push against that stereotype. PQA does a fairly good job at breaking egos. 

It’s a Friday evening, and most of the castle is inside and enjoying themselves. Since PQA is not your standard boarding school, students are allowed to Floo home on the weekends. Liam and Niall Flooed home earlier, so Louis is extra antsy. Instead of sitting around in his room playing with his Snitch, Louis decides to be productive and practice on his own for a bit. He takes his Firebolt and heads down to one of the pitches. 

The sun has just set so the sky is filled with strong, dark blue hues. There are a few red and purple streaks and the stars are slowly becoming brighter as the sunlight disappears. It’s a beautiful, clear night tonight. Perfect for late night flying. 

Louis is bundled up in a few layers both on his legs and upper body. His hair is tucked under a beanie, and he has on some fingerless gloves. Louis sees his breath puff in front of him as he walks to the Quidditch ball shed near the base of the stands. The bright lights around the field automatically sense his presence and burst into a bright yellow. The stars are now hidden behind the flash of light, but the dark green of the grass is now visible. 

Louis takes one of the practice Snitches out of the shed but does not activate it. He wants to practice his dives tonight, and it’s easier to just drop the Snitch from a great height and fly after it. One of Louis’ all time favorite moves is the Wronski Feint, and it would be the greatest moment of his life if he pulled it off successfully. The Wronski Feint involves one Seeker faking seeing the Snitch and diving towards the ground sharply; this should cause the opposing Seeker to race after. The faker should then pull up at the last minute and hopefully trick the opposing Seeker to crash into the ground. 

Thirty minutes into his solo practice, Louis sees a figure walking towards the pitch. The lights are bright, so it only looks like a shadow from up in the air. Curious, he flies down to the person, wondering who is crazy enough to join him outside.

As Louis reaches the ground, he recognizes the person as Harry. Fucking great. Just what Louis needs. Louis brushes imaginary dirt off of his jacket and grips his broom tightly. Harry has his own broom in his hand too, so clearly this isn’t a social call.

“Styles,” Louis starts. “What are you doing out here on a Friday? You do know you can Floo home if you want to.”

Harry sheepishly smiles. “Yeah, I know. I just...I saw that someone was practicing from my window, and I figured I’d come join. Didn’t feel like going home and didn’t feel like sitting in my room alone.”

And Louis can’t argue with that. “Um okay.” He doesn’t really know what to say either.

Luckily Harry continues. “Fancy a Seekers’ game? You versus me, first one to catch the Snitch?”

It would be nice to have company. Maybe this will help Louis get over any stress about them flying against each other in practice. Here, Louis can learn Harry’s weaknesses without Peterson’s watchful eyes on them. “Alright,” Louis agrees. “You’re on. I’ve just been working on some dives, so it’d be fun to have some competition.”

Harry grins and holds out a hand. “You’re on, Louis.” Louis takes it and shakes. Harry’s hand is warm and much larger than his own. Louis’ hand comes in contact with a ring on one of his fingers, but he can’t look too closely without acting suspicious. 

“Okay, ground rules,” Louis lists. “First one to catch the Snitch wins, but I’m going to add a 15 minute timer. Don’t want us searching out here until midnight.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Louis takes out the Snitch he had been using earlier and recites the activation spell. He twists the Snitch around to set the timer and lets it shoot off into the night. The white lights of the pitch immediately swallow the small golden Snitch. 

“May the best man win,” Louis announces and immediately hops on his broom. Even though it is a 15 minute match, Louis treats this like he is in the World Cup final. Every single shred of his dignity is on the line here. He hears a “Hey!” from Harry as he leaves him behind on the ground. Louis laughs as he feels the cold night air across his face. Louis is the best Seeker in this castle, and now is the chance to prove it. 

Harry follows him up in the air with his fancy Nimbus. In another life, Louis would ask Harry if he could try his broom out.

Louis reaches the standard Quidditch height and immediately scans the pitch. His eyes are zigzagging left and right as well as scanning up and down. Louis likes to slowly fly around the pitch in order to make sure his eyes can examine every part of the stadium. Harry on the other hand appears to have parked right in the center of the pitch. His head and body swivels as he rotates his broom in a circle. It’s a bold strategy, and it only sometimes pays off. 

“Your eyes doing okay there, Tomlinson?” Harry taunts. 

Louis snorts, “I’m more worried about you mate. At this rate, you’re going to fall off your broom and I’m gonna have to answer a lot of questions about your untimely accident.”

“Yeah, well, um...Your hands are so dainty that the Snitch is probably too big for it,” Harry shouts back.

Louis is valiantly trying to ignore the fact that Harry called some part of him _dainty._ “You are absolute dogshit at trash talk, do you know that, Styles? Like my younger brother can probably do better at bantering and he just turned 5.” 

“Aww you have baby siblings?”

“Are you serious Harry, now is not the time. Are you even trying?”

“I love kids!” Harry grins. “Also I resent the fact you think I’m not putting my all into this.”

Louis rolls his eyes. It’s been five minutes and Louis has made no progress except learning that Harry loves children. Yet another useless but endearing fact to add to his reservoir. Alright. Time to take this into his own hands. Louis is all warmed up from the dives from earlier, so it’s time to see if his practice paid off.

Louis waits until Harry is turned toward him and then drops into a deep dive. He hasn’t seen the Snitch, but he’s hoping that Harry can’t read him well enough to know that yet. No time like the present to try a Wronski Feint. Louis is approaching the ground quickly, and he looks over his shoulder to see if Harry has followed him. 

Instead, he sees Harry shoot off in the opposite direction chasing something that Louis cannot see. Shit, did Louis actaully fuck this that badly? Louis instantly pulls up and flies after Harry. Harry reaches the goal posts on the opposite side of the pitch and abruptly halts in midair. Louis stops right next to him and prepares himself for the worst trash talk he will probably ever hear.

Harry has a shit eating grin on his face, and his hands are empty.

“What the fuck,” Louis exclaims. “Are you serious right now?”

Harry starts laughing and a loud, honking noise emits from his throat. Louis imagines a ghost is trying to escape from his body, and this is the signal they are sending. 

“I cannot believe you fell for that!” Harry giggles, wiping tears from his eyes. Some of Harry’s curls have escaped from under his beanie. 

Louis is gobsmacked. He can’t really fathom it either. “I...I am impressed,” Louis admits begrudgingly. “I fully underestimated you.”

“Not just all talk, huh?” Harry smirks, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“I’m pretty sure you are _no_ talk actually,” Louis scoffs. 

They hear a loud shrieking noise and turn to see a golden pulsing light near the bottom of the stands. The Snitch is indicating the 15 minutes are up, and the flash provides the location of the Snitch. 

“Well, it’s getting pretty dark and cold outside, we should probably head in,” Harry offers. 

Louis looks up at the sky and sees some dark black clouds heading in. It looks like it might be a rainy Saturday tomorrow, so it’s probably best they turn in now. He looks back and Harry and nods in agreement. They both fly downwards, with Harry looping back to fetch the Snitch from where it is currently frozen in midair. When they reach the ground, Louis pulls his wand out of his jacket pocket and taps the Snitch that Harry hands him. It promptly becomes motionless. Louis throws his broom over his left shoulder and walks toward the ball shed. After dropping the Snitch in the box with the other Snitches, he closes and locks the door behind him.

Louis is a little surprised to see that Harry has waited for him, but realizes it probably would have been a dick move if he had left Louis to walk alone. 

It’s a ten minute walk at best to Mulberry, and, since Louis goes crazy in silence, he starts up a conversation. “So, how are you enjoying your time here at PQA? Is it everything you ever dreamed?”

“I am learning so much! I don’t regret anything for a minute. Everyone is very kind,” Harry answers.

It is a very diplomatic response. Undeterred, Louis continues, “What about Mulberry? Are you missing home much? You definitely need some time to get used to living in a castle. If I remember correctly, you weren’t at Hogwarts.”

“Yeah Mulberry is much bigger than I am used to, and my parents' estate can’t really be considered small. I’ve been homeschooled for my whole life, so I’ve never really been around people my age, you know? Mostly adults. It was nice when my sister was there with me, but her life path took a different turn early on.”

“You mean, like, not playing Quidditch?”

Harry nods. “She’s always been smarter than me, and I knew she had a much more important purpose in life than just flying around on a broom and playing with balls. She’s a social worker, and works with displaced families.”

“Wow,” Louis concurs, “that is definitely more selfless than anything I will ever do.”

Harry shifts his broom to his other shoulder. “But I’m really not that exciting of a person. I’m more curious about you. I don’t think I’ve had an actual conversation with you yet.”

Right. Ha. It’s not like Louis was actively avoiding this or anything. “I promise you that I am the blandest person you will ever meet.”

“I really beg to differ.”

“Okay fine, ask away, I’m an open book.” Louis is not an open book. Shit what is Harry doing to get him to say these things so freely? Maybe his food is being drugged. 

“Really?” Even Harry looks surprised to hear him say this. “Okay, wow. What’s your family like?”

Louis’ brain relaxes. This is a topic he’s not hesitant to talk about, unlike Harry who appears to shy away and quickly change the topic whenever his family comes up. “My family is a riot,” Louis says, stuffing his left hand in his pocket. “Too many siblings to count and the best mother in the world. She always sends me baked goods so I never feel homesick.”

“Ooh yes, you mentioned your brother earlier!” Harry chirps. “How many do you have?”

“Well, I’m the oldest of 7.”

“Holy shit, your mum is a superhero. How does she do it!”

“She’s a Healer in St. Mungos in the childrens’ ward. I guess she loved kids so much she felt the need to make more of them,” Louis jokes. 

Harry cackles. This is the second time Louis has heard this laugh from Harry. Most of the time, he has a very polite titter. “Okay what is this noise coming out of you,” Louis inquires. “I’ve heard this twice now, and both times I feel concerned for your lungs.”

Harry blushes bright red. They are nearing the castle doors now, so the light from the entrance is only deepening the color. “I try to hold it in, but that’s my unrestrained laugh? I’ve always been told it’s jarring to hear.”

They’ve reached the front doors now. Louis needs to turn left to get to the Seekers’ dorm, while Harry will have to turn the opposite direction to get to the Chasers’. “Curly, I don’t know who told you this, but they should be slapped. That is the greatest laugh I’ve ever heard.”

“Um, thanks,” Harry says shyly, tucking his hair back under his beanie.

Louis starts walking toward his room, leaving Harry in the entrance hall. He turns around and calls, “See you around, Styles. If you ever are in need of a pastry, you know where to find me,” before continuing to his room.

\---

Ever since Louis had the impromptu Seekers’ match last Friday, Harry has been extremely friendly with Louis. It’s as if a dam has broken and Harry assumes free reign to interact with Louis. It has even become noticeable to others. He brings up conversations with Louis during meals and chatters during practice. Since they are both currently running Seeker drills, the opportunity to talk is more prevalent. Louis always answers any questions he’s asked, but so far Louis hasn’t been the one to initiate anything. However, Harry doesn’t seem to mind. 

Louis has learned a lot of things about Harry in the past few days. Most of their discussions are about Quidditch, like which position is the most important position in the game, and which professional player they each think they are more like. They’ve also argued over which brand of broom makes the most sense to fly on, and if it’s easier to play a match on a sunny day or a cloudy day. To be fair, most of their talks turn into mini debates.

And yet, Louis has gleaned a few other details here and there. For example, Harry usually wears rings on his fingers, even when playing. Usually Quidditch players keep their hands free from distractions, but Harry’s rings don’t ever leave his fingers, regardless of the position he is playing. Harry also wears his hair tied up in a tiny bun like Louis had seen during their first meeting, or tucked behind a beanie. Harry always wears some sort of Magpies branded Quidditch gear when playing. Since the Montrose Magpies colors are black and white, his outfits each day usually stick to a muted color palette. However, Louis has noticed his casual clothes are much brighter with interesting patterns. Sometimes it’s a jacket or a pair of shoes. It’s never the whole outfit, but he throws at least one colorful item of clothing on during the weekends.

During lunch break on Wednesday, Niall and Liam pull Louis aside as they head to the dining hall from the pitch.

“Louis, care to share with the class what the fuck is up with you and Harry Styles? This is the most I’ve seen you interact with him, like ever,” Niall demands.

“Not that anything is bad about this,” Liam is quick to reassure Louis. “It’s just that we are a bit confused. I mean the last time we saw you two, it’s like there was a brick wall in between. I don’t think you guys ever really talked since the day he arrived. So, yes. Just wanted to check in.”

Louis understands their questions, but he doesn’t really know what any of this means. “I’m a little lost too, boys. I guess the only thing that changed is we kind of practiced together Friday night?”

“Excuse me!” Niall exclaims. “What do you mean by practice?”

Louis looks ahead to see where Harry is walking next to Cara and Maisie. Maisie is awfully close to Harry, and it doesn’t look like Harry is hating it. His face is animated as he gestures wildly with his hands. Maisie giggles cutely and touches Harry’s shoulder in response. 

“Holy Merlin! When you say practice, do you actually mean _practice!”_ Niall yelps, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shhh!” Louis hisses. “Keep your damn voice down! Of course that’s not what that means!”

Liam looks from Niall to Louis and shrieks. “Louis! You _like_ Harry?” he whisper-shouts. Luckily the wind is blowing loudly, so their conversation isn’t overheard by others.

Louis rolls his eyes in exasperation. This is not how he saw this afternoon going. “Boys! Just leave it! We flew together Friday night and talked a bit after. I don’t know what happened, we didn’t even talk that much.”

Liam still has a suspicious look on his face, and Niall is not at all satisfied with the story that Louis has given him. 

“Move on, yeah? I’ve given up and I’m just rolling with whatever shit is thrown my way, okay?” Louis insists. 

“Fine Tommo. But in the future, I expect to hear about these things the second they happen, okay?”

“Fine, fine Nialler,” Louis concedes. “Besides, Maisie has gotten him all locked up. We’ve discussed this Niall.”

“Um, I too would like to be in on this,” Liam interjects. “This is a three-way street, okay?”

Louis claps Liam on the back in agreement and they head to an open table in the dining hall.

\---

Halfway through Harry’s Seeker rotation, Peterson pulls Louis and Harry aside to talk about a new play. Peterson is always developing and tweaking Seeker moves, so Louis isn’t shocked. He is, however, a little curious that this is the first time he’s hearing about a new play. Since Louis is the only Seeker (normally), Peterson talks to him during their Tuesday meetings about anything Seeker related he has developed. Sometimes he brings up plays for other positions to get a Seeker’s input, but they stick to focusing on Louis’ performance otherwise. Louis enjoys learning how a coach develops plays; he believes his Quidditch IQ rises every time they have a session. 

It also makes Louis feel a special connection to Peterson. Louis knows from talking to Niall and Liam that Peterson has never talked about the types of plays he is developing for Beaters or Chasers. While Louis doesn’t brag about this, he doesn’t mention the brainstorming sessions they have to the others in his year. Louis told Niall once, since Niall is his best friend, but he hasn’t even said anything to Liam about it. It’s sacred, and Louis doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. 

So, when Peterson mentions a new play, Louis is curious. He’s not at all mad that Peterson hasn’t mentioned this play before.

“This move that I’m describing is a little different,” Peterson starts. The three of them are on the ground. The rest of the third years are up in the air scrimmaging. The Chasers are trying to score on the Keeper, while the two Beaters act as defenders and swat the Bludger at the Chasers whenever they can.

“I’ve been thinking recently that I want to get the different positions to cross paths more often,” Peterson continues. “Specifically, using the Seeker as a red herring for the opposing Beaters. It’s a little risky, but having the Seeker dive between the Chasers, the Beaters could get distracted and direct their Bludgers toward the Seeker, leaving the Chasers a relatively open goal.”

It makes sense. The Seeker is always the target of Bludgers, so using that to their advantage could work, Louis thinks.

“So would this be in conjunction with any specific Chaser plays?” Louis asks.

“Great question,” Peterson replies. “I’m thinking it would have different results based on what the Chasers are doing. Harry and I were actually discussing this last week.”

Harry says something to Peterson, but Louis doesn’t hear it. His brain is going a million miles an hour. Harry and Peterson talked about this? While Louis knows that Harry also has meetings on Tuesdays, he never really considered what _they_ talk about. Do they also talk about plays? Why didn’t Peterson say anything to Louis? Who does Harry even think he is? Blood is rushing through his head, and Louis is panicking a little. 

“Louis?” 

Louis brought back into the moment abruptly with a nudge to his side from Harry. Both Peterson and Harry are looking at him expectantly. 

Louis has to think fast. “Um, this sounds like a great idea,” Louis pulls out of his ass. It seems to be the right answer because Peterson looks happy with the response, and Harry sends him a little grin.

“Excellent,” Peterson finishes. “Louis and Harry, let me know what thoughts you have in a few days and we can try some out. Remember, this play only works with the element of surprise, so don’t go blabbing to the Beaters or the Chasers. I think you two will make a great team, and I am expecting some nice ideas, lads.”

Wait what. What did Louis just agree to. Are he and Harry supposed to work together on this? Alone? Together? This is getting messy. 

Peterson jumps up on his broom to check in on what the rest of the year is doing, leaving Harry and Louis on the ground. 

Harry looks at Louis. He must sense that something is off with him, because he’s hesitant when he speaks. “Do you want to start now...or maybe we can meet up after dinner?”

Yeah, Louis is not in the right mindset to have a full length conversation with the person who is slowly chipping away at Louis’ self confidence, albeit unintentionally. Louis has never had these doubts before.

“Let’s meet after dinner,” Louis decides. “In my room. That way we have time to discuss.”

“Sounds perfect,” Harry beams. And Louis can’t help but want to take his hands and squish Harry’s perfect face. Whether it’s out of anger or affection, Louis doesn’t know.

\---

After practice is over, Louis showers quickly and grabs a to-go plate from the kitchens. The elves are always happy to see people come through. Louis waves to Delly, the elf assigned to clean his room, as he waits on his plate. She enthusiastically waves back and bows to him, her pink dress touching the floor. All of the elves in Mulberry are free. Pokey hands him his plate, and he rushes out after thanking them all.

He and Harry hadn’t set a specific time to meet. Harry probably assumed that they would just head up to Louis’ room together after dinner, but Louis has bypassed this by eating in his room. If Harry eats normally with the rest of the team, Louis probably has around 40 minutes before Harry could show up. 

Louis needs this time to sort out everything going through his mind. Louis is not trying to be arrogant, but Louis knows that Peterson and other coaches at PQA have implied that he has a great shot at getting multiple offers. Maybe Louis has been naive in thinking that he was the top candidate for the scouts. Just last week, Bebe had mentioned to Louis that Coach Collins had brought up Harry’s flying style during their practice; she had compared Harry’s turns to his father’s.

But really, Louis needs to figure out what Harry’s motivations are. Louis just cannot get a read on him. Every time they interact, Louis loses focus; Harry becomes the star of every thought and emotion that flows through his head. His mushy heart is clouding his ability to analyze and interpret Harry’s intentions. 

Does Harry want to sign to a professional team as well? It would be only natural since his father was a star Quidditch player. How long is Harry staying at PQA? Will he be there in a few months when the scouts come around in December? If so, does this mean that less people will be looking at Louis? Harry has such a magnetic pull, and he’s got an amazing talent. Not that Louis would necessarily admit it out loud, but Harry might even rival him as a Seeker. During his Seeker rotation, Harry has been keeping up with all of the drills; when the two of them are battling for the same Snitch, Louis has to fight to come out on top. He loathes to admit it, but Harry’s Quidditch IQ is on par with Louis’. Louis can easily win on obscure Seeker facts and moves, but Harry’s general knowledge is outstanding. 

It’s settled, Louis decides. This evening during their meeting, Louis will be a master of subtlety and figure out what the hell Harry Styles is doing here, and how that affects Louis. 

Not a minute after Louis made a decision, he hears a knock on the common room door. The doors in the castle are warded such that you only need to walk through it once in order to be able to use it at any time. Once Louis formally invites Harry into the Seekers’ dorm, the door will open for him from that point onwards. All of the flyers pretty much have access to each of the dorms since it’s very common to meet up in different common rooms. Only doors to personal rooms remain locked unless opened by the person who lives there.

Louis walks over to the door and pulls on the handle. Harry is standing dressed in a big maroon hoodie. The hood is over his head, but his hair is loose and wet, poking out from the gap between Harry’s neck and the cotton material of his clothes. His sweats are black and tucked into his thick yellow socks. On his feet are a pair of muggle shoes, specifically some white Vans. Louis is mildly impressed; he hasn’t seen another wizard wear muggle brands, specifically a brand he also wears. Louis might even have those exact shoes, but in a smaller size of course.

“Hey Harry, come in,” Louis gestures. Harry walks through the door and the archway flashes gold, indicating that Harry’s magical signature has been added.

“Thanks,” Harry breathes, looking around at the common room curiously. The Seekers’ common room is no different from the others. The furniture throughout Mulberry is a muted grey palette. The Broadmoor brothers stayed loyal to their club, the Falcons, and kept the theme of Mulberry the same as the Falcons colors. 

Since there are less Seekers, there are only a few squashy couches and a couple armchairs around a large fireplace. The fire is always running since Louis likes to stay as warm as possible. There is a large bay window looking out onto the grounds of the estate. Louis has taken many naps by that window.

“The common room is lovely,” Harry remarks. “I think I prefer this size over the Chasers’ room. This one is a lot cozier.”

“I guess,” Louis says. “But there is also a reason why the Chasers’ common room is the nicest. Everyone hangs out there. The others tend to be pretty empty. I mean the Seekers’ room is a ghost town except for the four of us.”

Harry shrugs. “I like it. Sometimes, you just want to be alone.”

And well, Louis can relate. “Here, let me show you my room.”

Louis takes Harry down a hallway near the back corner of the common room. There are four doors that lead to each of the Seeker’s rooms. Nadia’s and Bebe’s rooms are the first two doors, and Marcus and Louis have the rooms in the back. Bebe has decorated her door with colorful tinsel and lights. Louis suspects she has been encouraging Nadia to do the same. Louis and Marcus have done absolutely no personalization to their doors. For Louis, it’s mostly because he can’t be bothered to decorate.

Louis brings Harry into his room and feels a little self conscious. While his room isn’t messy, it can’t necessarily be considered clean either. There are a few clothes lying around, and his desk is full of random knick knacks, including his plate from dinner earlier. At least his bed is somewhat made. There is just a slight dent in the duvet where Louis had been lounging whilst waiting for Harry. 

“Let’s talk on my bed,” Louis says, jumping up and settling near his pillows. Harry is a lot more sedated in his movements as he toes off his Vans and sits cross-legged across from Louis on the edge of his bed. 

“I have some ideas that I was thinking about earlier,” Harry starts hesitantly. 

Louis barely knows what they’ve been talking about all day since he’s been so distracted, so this is perfect. “Excellent, hit me.” 

They spend close to an hour going back and forth on what Harry has thought about. Harry has a few sheets of parchment where he has scribbled down a few suggestions. Louis is impressed with the amount of time Harry has spent on these ideas, and it’s clear that he didn’t just casually bring it up with Peterson. Louis would bet money on Harry developing the core concept for quite a while before bringing it up with Peterson. 

Harry speaks passionately about Quidditch, and his plan has a lot of merit. Louis is fantastic at bitching and complaining, so he plays to his strengths and tries to point out flaws in Harry’s play. It works, because they both find a more cohesive flight plan for all of the players. 

Louis is actually pretty damn proud of what they devised, and he can honestly see a team like Puddlemere successfully pulling this off. 

“Shit Harry, you did it,” Louis smiles. “I think this is actually brilliant.” 

Harry blushes. “It was a team effort Louis. I couldn’t have figured out the Beater placement if it wasn’t for you. Dream team.”

“I mean I just spent an hour dismantling your work, I wouldn’t say I was a primary contributor.”

“Sure,” Harry acknowledges. “But in order to perfect something, you need to attack it from both sides, and you made it happen.”

Louis laughs. “I mean I’ll take the credit if you’re offering.”

Their Quidditch discussion is slowly coming to a natural end, but Louis isn’t ready to let Harry go. He hasn’t even gotten any of the answers he wanted out of this conversation. The only facts Louis is certain about is that Harry is a creative genius, and Louis can talk to him for an hour without feeling the drag of small talk. Even with Niall, Louis sometimes needs a break. While he prefers to be around other people, there are times when being alone is the only remedy for the noise in his head.

If anything, Louis is intrigued to see how long his brain can keep Harry around. It’s 9 on a Thursday night, so there really is no excuse.

“You’ve been in two rotations so far, Chaser and Seeker,” Louis says, trying to keep it casual. He doesn’t really want Harry to realize he’s prying too deeply into his personal thoughts. Harry definitely clams up. “Which position have you found more exciting?”

It’s a harmless enough question, and Harry doesn’t think much of it. “I know I came into PQA feeling like I was a Chaser, but it’s hard to say right now. I feel about the same for both of them, if that makes any sense?” 

Not really. Louis fell in love with Seeking almost immediately, and there has never been any other position or passion that could ever hold a candle to it. Even other classic Ministry careers don’t fascinate him as much as spending hours on a broom searching for a glimpse of a tiny golden ball. 

He tells Harry as much. “I tried Seeking in a pick up Quidditch game in my neighborhood when I was eight. I had only ever played Chaser before, but we needed a Seeker and I volunteered. It turned out to be the best decision of my entire life. When I caught that Snitch, I knew nothing could ever come close to the rush I was feeling right then and there.”

“That’s amazing Louis,” Harry sighs. He picks at a loose thread in his sock. “I hope I’m lucky enough one day to find that as well.”

“Surely you enjoy Quidditch though,” Louis questions. “You don’t look miserable on the pitch, that’s for sure.”

“Okay yes,” Harry amends. “I love Quidditch. But I don’t know if I really love Quidditch or I’ve just been around it my whole life and it was a result of osmosis.”

Louis is shocked. He has never seen Harry more animated than when he’s talking Quidditch. “What do you mean Harry? Of course you like Quidditch! I can see it plain on your face every day in practice.”

Harry groans and leans back on the bed. His feet are near Louis’ pillows and his head is hanging over the edge of the bed. “I know, I know!”

“What’s going on, Styles? Why are you doubting everything suddenly? I’ve never seen this from you, Mr. Confidence and Rainbows,” Louis wonders, poking Harry’s shin with his left hand. This is also the most information Louis has ever gotten out of Harry in one sitting as well. 

Harry pulls himself into a sitting position and leans back on his hands. “I don’t really like to talk about these sorts of stuff,” Harry admits.

“Well yeah, buddy,” Louis chuckles. “You say the most and the least at the same time. Does anyone know anything about you?”

“Heyyy,” Harry whines. His face becomes more serious as he continues, “I guess I haven’t just been friends with people before. In the Quidditch world, everyone has a motive, and they will do anything to get what they want. I’ve seen it first hand.”

“Harry!” Louis says, placing a hand on Harry’s knee. Harry’s eyes drift towards Louis’ hand and stare at it for a few moments before looking back up at Louis. “You cannot live your life like that! You need to find someone and trust them and have some sort of safe space to share your thoughts without judgement! You’ll go crazy otherwise; believe me, I speak from experience.”

“I have Gemma for that,” Harry answers.

Louis huffs. “That’s not enough, Styles. Siblings don’t count.”

Harry stays silent and twists his ring around his finger. Louis notices that he’s done this a couple times when he’s thinking about something, or when he is nervous. 

Louis bites his lip and blurts out, “I’ll be your safe space. I promise I won’t ever judge you unless you really deserve it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Harry,” Louis laughs. “It’s not a hardship to be your friend! Friends should only make your life better, not worse. If they do, dump them.”

“Thanks for your support Louis,” Harry says. He places his hand on top of Louis’. “I can’t say I expected this coming into this meeting.”

“It’s really not a problem, Harry, don’t thank me!” Louis insists. 

Harry and Louis both come to a realization that something important and emotional just occurred, so Harry stands up abruptly, dislodging Louis’ hand from his knee.

“I, uh, had better head to bed,” Harry stumbles. 

“Oh um, yeah,” Louis stutters back, standing up to let Harry out. They walk silently to the common room door, and Harry steps out. He hesitates before turning back and Louis and says softly, “Goodnight Louis. See you tomorrow during practice.”

“Goodnight.” Louis waves and watches as Harry makes his way down the corridor and towards the other side of the castle. Louis drags himself back to his bed and flops unceremoniously face down on it, before groaning. What the hell just happened? Did they just become friends? It felt natural for Louis to offer his hand in friendship. One thing’s for sure. Harry Styles just got a lot more complicated, and Louis didn’t really solve anything.

\---

When Louis and Harry present their ideas to Peterson during practice the next day, he is very impressed with the level of thought and detail they have put into their plans. In fact, he is so impressed that he tasks Louis and Harry to continue developing strategies after practice. Individually they throw around ideas during their Tuesday meetings with Peterson, but in the evenings, Harry can be found in Louis’ room 2-3 nights a week. Niall has stopped dropping by unexpectedly and instead sends Louis an owl in case he and Harry are working on something. 

This continues well after Harry’s Seeker rotation has ended and his Beater rotation has started. Louis learns more and more about Harry each time they meet, and his small crush has developed into a full-blown addiction. Louis has never met another soul that fits so well with his own, in every facet. Their sense of humor is pretty similar, though Louis would never admit it out loud. Louis tells himself he laughs at Harry’s stupid jokes to not hurt Harry’s feelings, but in reality, Louis is incredibly endeared.

A couple weeks after his first session with Harry, Louis and Harry have gotten a routine down. They’ll grab a quick meal in the dining hall with the rest of the year and then head on up to Louis’ room, where they spend at least two hours talking. The first hour is usually spent brainstorming and arguing about the play they’re developing together. 

It’s fun to argue with Harry. After they’ve gotten over all of the niceties and polite small talk that comes with being new friends, Harry and Louis find themselves bickering over something. It’s never in anger or with malice. It is fighting for the sake of fighting. Either Harry will come up with something extremely implausible and Louis will tease and pull it apart, or Louis will propose some movement or drill that Harry swears is borderline illegal or already an existing foul.

But after they are all yelled out, they spend the rest of the time talking about anything and everything. Louis has known Harry for only a couple of months, but he feels like he knows Harry almost as well as Niall. For such a short time period, it’s a little scary how close they’ve gotten.

Tonight, Harry has been asking Louis all about his time at Hogwarts. While Louis thinks he’s had a standard experience, Harry is intrigued by everything.

“Did you ever get lost on those stairs?” Harry asks. He’s currently sprawled across the bottom half of Louis’ bed. He has transfigured a couple pieces of parchment paper into some pillows and has made himself a little nest. It warms Louis’ heart to see him so comfortable and relaxed.

Louis scratches his head. He’s on his back with his head on his own pillow. Louis is fully stretched out and his toes can just about reach Harry’s feet at the other end of the bed. He has let his Snitch loose, and it is slowly flitting around the room. Occasionally one of Harry or Louis will catch it and release it.

“I mean when I was a first year, the stairs were absolutely confusing,” Louis responds. “Like you’ve just only left home for the first time and you don’t know how to do any spells, and then on top of that, the stairs like to bloody change their mind on you when you’re late to fucking Charms class.”

“Ugh but that sounds so fun!” Harry sighs with jealousy. Louis gives him a questioning look, and Harry continues, “I just mean that it’s so nice to have these kinds of experiences. Hogwarts is like a rite of passage, and I’m a little bothered that I missed it.”

“I guess sure, if you want to put it that way,” Louis starts. “But think about it like this. What you’ve gone through at age eleven is unique. Hundreds of kids can say that they walked the halls of Hogwarts. But only _you_ can say that you’d flown in every professional Quidditch pitch in England. I mean, for fucks sake, you called the fucking Head Coach of the Montrose Magpies Uncle Chester. Imagine being able to call Chester fucking Edwards ‘uncle’. I think I’d shit myself to be honest.”

Harry rolls his eyes. “That’s not that impressive, Lou. I mean it’s only because I’ve known him since I was three. You know how long my dad has been on the Magpies for.”

“I know Haz! But that’s what I’m trying to tell you! Your life hasn’t been all that boring either.”

“I know, I know,” Harry admits. “I can’t help but feel jealous of all the people my age who were able to learn all these cool spells and make lifelong friends. Like shit Lou, do you know you are the first person I actually feel comfortable around? Every single person has some sort of ulterior motive when getting to know me, and I haven’t seen a wisp of it from you yet.”

Louis takes his sock-covered feet and squeezes one of Harry’s ankles between them, just to convey some comfort. Hearing about how lonely Harry’s been his entire life is heartbreaking. 

“I hope the others in our year haven’t been harassing you about connections or whatever.” Louis remembers Nick talking about Harry’s potential connections his first day at PQA.

“No, no,” Harry is quick to defend them. “It’s nothing like that. I don’t know...I just feel...more assured of you? I don’t know if that’s the word I’m meant to be using to describe this situation.”

Louis smiles. “I’ve never been the type to try to cheat my way to success. If I was going to make it big, it’s because I have the skills and dedication it takes. I mean, it’s probably why I didn’t care so much about classes and doing work at Hogwarts. I spent as much time as I could on the Quidditch pitch at school. I honestly think it was a blessing that I made it into PQA for my mother. I’m pretty sure if I tried to take my O.W.Ls now, I’d fail miserably.”

“See, that’s why everyone likes you,” Harry gestures towards Louis. “You’re dedicated and honest. Those are two qualities that don’t really exist in the professional world.”

Louis blushes. “I don’t know about _everyone_ , but I’m happy with what I’ve got. And besides, I don’t think you’re as conceited and nasty as all the people you claim make up the Quidditch world.”

“I think I got clued in early on,” Harry confesses. “I very easily could have turned out to be an arrogant son of a bitch. I have Chester to thank for showing me the light.”

“Edwards? What do you mean?”

Harry turns his head towards the ceiling. He bends both his knees and places his feet flat on the duvet cover. His hands move behind his head, and his wand is resting gently on his stomach. 

“I pretty much grew up on the Quidditch pitch,” Harry says, “that much is general knowledge. But in reality, I spent most of my time with the various coaches and managers; they basically taught me everything I knew about the sport. I really learned Quidditch through a coach’s lens rather than from a player.”

“Your dad didn’t teach you how to play?” Louis is surprised. It seems like Des Styles bragged about his prodigal son in at least half of his interviews, especially in the past couple years after his retirement. “My dad was the first person to introduce me to a broom.”

“I mean yes, he did teach me,” Harry concedes. “I’m sure every child who grew up in the Wizarding world learned the basics from their parents. But the nuance and thrill of the game I learned from people like Chester.”

Harry rotates his body until his head is propped up on one arm, facing Louis. Louis instinctively mirrors his position. The Snitch continues to hum gently in the background, content to be ignored by the two people in the room. 

“Uncle Chester would bring me around as he met with managers and coaches, and I got to see firsthand some of the greatest plays being developed. I mean, the Tavenford Twist? I was there when Jenny Tavonford first perfected the move in practice. She and Chester worked on it for weeks, and I don’t think they really had it all planned out.”

“Wait what?” Louis asks. “I thought Jenny said in an interview that she acted on instinct!”

“Total lie Louis,” Harry insists. “Every play or move is meticulously designed, and usually by one of the coaches on staff. The players just execute it. And then get it named after them. Coaches get basically no credit, even if they do most of the work.”

“Fuck, I had no idea,” Louis marvels. “I mean yeah, I guess I figured some of the plays were created beforehand, but I didn’t realize something as random as the Tavenford Twist was a specially designed play. That’s totally shit for the coaches.”

“Agreed. That’s why seeing things through Chester’s eyes has made me a little cynical about it all.” 

Louis sits up and crosses his legs. “Thanks for sharing that part of you with me Harry. I think I understand a little more about you and what I’m hoping to get into.”

Harry scrambles up quickly and hastily adds, “I’m not trying to shit on your dreams or anything! Quite the opposite! I’m just saying that I think you’ll be making the industry much better when you join a team.”

“Oh! No, I wasn’t thinking you were doing that at all!” Louis placates.

“You have such a beautiful mind and soul Louis,” Harry says earnestly. “I absolutely love your passion, and I truly am glad that I’ve got you in my life now.”

Louis turns bright red. He’s not very good at receiving compliments, and his brain is suddenly trying to provide an exit to this conversation. “Um, it’s getting a little late, and we should probably head to sleep.”

“Oh yeah, sorry!” Harry stands up and shoves his shoes on his feet. The air between them turns awkward, as if Harry also realizes what he’s said. “Um, see you tomorrow?”

Louis waves as Harry walks out the door. Louis instantly falls back and sighs deeply.

\---

While Louis is still unsure how Harry’s presence at PQA affects his chances of getting signed, he’s slowly starting to worry less about it. Instead, his main focus is now on trying to figure out if Harry could be romantically interested in him. Louis has no obvious hints from Harry other than friendly nudges and hugs. Louis is more touchy-feely with Liam and Niall and he’s not at all interested in them in that way. 

His questions are answered one Saturday night in late November. Nick and Cara have birthdays only a few days apart, so they decide to throw a big 17th birthday bash on the Saturday night in between their birthdays. They claim the Chasers’ common room, and call in reinforcements to get booze and food. Since they are both legal now, Cara and Nick took great delight in owl-ordering several bottles of firewhiskey and elf wine. While all of them have drank before, it feels a little more special when you can do it officially. 

Of the people in third year, only Niall and Liam had turned 17 already. Louis has to wait until Christmas Eve, and Harry has to wait a couple months after. Louis found out when Harry’s birthday was from one of their late night brainstorming sessions.

Since Louis frequents the kitchens often, Cara asked (read: demanded) Louis to get some food for the party. Jokes on Cara, because Louis will ignore whatever list she gives him and is going to choose his own favorite snacks and finger foods instead. He ends up bringing a wide variety of sweet and savory foods, and if he maybe also brings a couple of Harry’s favorite foods (like avocado on toast), then no one has to know.

When Louis enters the Chasers’ dorm with large platters of food floating behind him, he’s slightly late to the party. It seems like everyone has started drinking already, including Liam. Liam doesn’t like to drink (his body is a temple, whatever), but it looks like Liam has thrown it out the door today and is holding a cocktail of some sort. 

He hears a chorus of “Louis!” and “Food!”, so he knows his appearance is at least noticed by others. Now Louis likes to drink as much as the next guy, but he also knows that someone needs to make sure that nothing goes too crazy tonight. And since he’s the last one there, the burden falls on him to stay somewhat sober. 

Louis, Niall, and Liam drank themselves into a stupor for Niall’s 17th last month, so Louis is not interested in repeating that morning after. (Spoiler alert: Louis vomited three times that day, and Liam was afraid he would lose his kidney again. Niall, as usual, was perfectly fine.)

Instead, Louis grabs a butterbeer from the drinks table and heads over to wish Cara and Nick.

The birthday boy and girl are doing some shots in the middle of the room, so Louis pushes his way through the crowd to get to them. Since there are so few people at PQA, whenever there is a party, everyone is automatically invited. It would feel too empty and sad if there were only six people throwing a rager. 

“Nick!” Louis shouts over the music. Looks like Ed, a fourth year Beater, has taken control of the music and is playing loud, techno music. Nick looks up and immediately grins in Louis’ direction. He nudges Cara and they both surround him in a hug.

“LouLou! How are you, my sweet summer child,” Nick croons as he leans most of his weight on Louis’ shoulders. Cara squeezes his middle and rubs her cheeks to Louis’. 

“Loubear! We love you so much! Thanks for bringing me some treacle tarts!” Cara giggles. 

“Happy birthday, you lushes,” Louis ruffles Nick’s hair with his left arm and hugs Cara closer with his right. He’s careful not to spill his butterbeer on Cara, but it’s a close call. “Love you both.”

He gets two kisses on his cheeks and pushes both Nick and Cara away as they become surrounded by some of the other Chasers. He sees Liam in the group and sends him a smile and a wave. 

Louis makes his way over to where he deposited the food and grabs a few bread sticks to munch on. Louis is about to find an open couch seat when he is accosted by a drunk Harry. 

“Hiiii Lou!” Harry says as he hugs Louis close to him. This is the most amount of hugs he’s gotten in the past month.

“Hey tipsy Harry,” Louis laughs. “Wow, babe, you are well on your way to being wasted, aren’t you? How much have you drank already?”

“Umm,” Harry sways slightly in place, so Louis grabs on to his waist to keep him steady. Harry latches on completely and lays his head on Louis’ shoulder. “I don’t think I had that many? But I also don’t know. Because Cara and Nick made us all drink before the party started? Lou I can’t think, help.”

“Oh Harry,” Louis fonds. “You feeling fine? Need to sit down at all?”

“Lou can I tell you a secret,” Harry slurs. “I think this is the most I ever drank.” 

“Merlin, Harry,” Louis says, “You are so going to feel this tomorrow. Let’s go sit down somewhere.”

Because Louis is a kind and generous friend, he decides he will keep an eye on Harry tonight, and drags Harry slowly through the crowd to an open couch in the back corner of the common room. He flops down on the cushions and pulls Harry with him. Harry happily goes along and seems content to let Louis control what they are doing. 

Harry peacefully cuddles to Louis’ side and watches the rest of PQA dance and drink in merriment. Louis tries not to acknowledge the fact that this is the most contact he and Harry have ever had. It’s also the most natural feeling in the world to put his arm around Harry; Harry certainly doesn’t mind. 

“How has your night been going, darling? Other than all the drinking of course,” Louis asks, absentmindedly stroking Harry’s arm. 

“Fun!” Harry says cheerfully. “Ed is good at music and I danced a lot. I love dancing.”

“Yeah? What kind of dancing?”

“I just make it up each time Lou,” Harry whispers secretively, making Louis laugh more. Drunk Harry is too cute. 

They are interrupted by Maisie, who is wearing a short red dress. She looks stunning, and her clothes almost match Harry’s. Harry has on a red blouse of some sort and black skinny jeans and boots. 

“Harry! You promised me a dance, remember?” Maisie chirps, pulling Harry away from Louis. Harry smiles and lets her lead him away to the group of people dancing in the middle of the room. 

Louis watches as Harry “dances” with Maisie. And by dance, he means flail his arms around and jump up and down wildly. It’s incredibly fun to watch and just so Harry. While Louis isn’t exactly thrilled that Maisie is closer than Louis would like to Harry, he takes comfort in the fact that Harry’s dance moves require a lot of space.

Louis spots Niall mixing drinks and decides to say hello to his best friend. Niall is just handing a mixed drink to one of the first years when Louis pops up next to him.

“Alright there, Nialler?” Louis asks. “The birthday children roped you into doing work as well?”

“Nah, you know me Louis,” Niall responds, “I don’t trust anyone else to know how to bartend as well as me. It’s the Irish in me, as you know.”

“You really cannot keep saying that as a reason you do anything, Ni.”

“Bitch, you ain’t the boss of me,” Niall snarks. “Now, what drink do you want?”

Louis shakes his head. “Just butterbeer for me. I’m not drinking tonight.”

“Why not? Are you okay, did something happen?”

“No nothing like that at all! Just...wanted to keep an eye on people, that’s all.”

Niall stares at Louis for a second before his face lights up. “Harry! That’s who you’re creeping on!”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a dick, Niall.”

“I’m serious! How’s Operation Win Harry’s Heart going? I feel like all of my time with you has been stolen by him. Not that I’m complaining or anything! It’s nice to see you so happy Louis.”

Louis turns his head to the dancing crowd. Harry has been pulled into some weird group dance with Cara, Nick, and a second year Chaser. His dimples are fully visible, and his hair is bouncing around him. 

“I don’t really know what’s happening Niall, but every time I’m with him, I forget about the pressures of this year, and how important my Quidditch career is to me. I’ve only ever had one love in my life, Quidditch.”

“Oh Louis,” Niall says. “You _are_ allowed to have more than one love, you know that? Plus, Harry has been so good for you.” 

“What do you mean?”

“You are so much more open during practice, Lou! Richie even told me you came up to him and asked him some Beater questions. He knows you and I are besties, so he was confused.”

“Huh,” Louis questions. “I didn’t even realize that. My assignments with Harry are making me think about all of the positions on the pitch more differently and in depth. I guess I didn’t notice I’ve been talking to you lot more.”

“Again, that’s a good thing!”

“You know Niall, you’re pretty good at giving advice.”

“Well I am a bartender, that’s what we do.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Niall, there are less than 50 people in this room, and half of them are drinking only butterbeer. You’ve not made a single drink since I’ve been standing here.”

“Because you’re scaring all my customers away! Honestly Lou, you must be bad for business.”

“Please tell me you aren’t making the first years tip you.”

“Hey, I’m not _making_ anyone do anything.”

Louis leans against the wall as Niall is interrupted by a second year. Niall really does make a good bartender; his easy-going attitude and love for alcohol is the perfect combination. Louis looks back into the crowd to catch Harry’s eye again, but he cannot seem to find his curly head. He turns back to Niall as he hands over a bright red cocktail to someone. 

“Hey Niall?” Louis starts. “You think it’s possible Harry could ever feel the same way about me? Like is there a 1 percent chance.”

“Louis stop fishing,” Niall responds. “He literally stares at you the same amount you drool at him. Like even Liam has mentioned it, that’s how obvious it is. You know that boy has the observational skills of a walnut. I don’t know how he manages to Chase so well.” 

“Eh, I don’t know Niall. I feel like every connection we have can be easily chalked up to friendly interactions. I get such mixed feelings from him.” 

Just then, he sees Harry stumble towards him out of the corner of his eye. Harry drapes himself over Louis and purred into Louis’ ear, “Louisss, I missed you! Where were you? I got lost.”

“Well hello there,” Louis laughs.

“You smell so good Lou,” Harry giggles. “I wanna try some of you.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Louis exclaims. Louis was definitely not expecting those words to ever leave Harry’s mouth.

“And your lips,” Harry continues, as if Louis hadn’t said anything. “Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I just want to bite them and kiss them.”

Louis is completely shocked and a little turned on; it’s also the first sign from Harry that he is in any way interested in Louis. Louis is dying to know more about what drunk Harry will reveal. “Is this a secret Harry? How long have you felt this way?”

“Ugh like all the time,” Harry pouts. He then suddenly turns very green and looks distressed. “I don’t feel so good.”

Louis immediately turns his thoughts to making sure Harry is not going to be sick. 

“Oh Harry babe, did you drink more?” Louis chides gently. Harry gives him a guilty look and nuzzles his face closer to Louis’ neck. Louis is going to have to revisit everything he just learned another time. “Okay I need to put you to bed before you completely black out. Niall, can you hand me a bottle of water?”

Niall, who had been purposefully keeping his distance, turns to face Louis when he hears his name. Niall then winks at Louis and passes over a glass water bottle. Louis promptly ignores Niall’s wink and takes the water in his left hand.

“Come on babe, let’s head to my room. It’s quieter there,” Louis says. He holds on to Harry carefully with his right hand wrapped securely around Harry’s waist. Harry wobbles as he takes a few steps, but eventually finds his footing. Louis and Harry skirt around the edge of the room so as to not bump into any moving bodies; one misstep could send Harry off balance. 

As soon as they enter the corridor, the silence engulfs both of them. It sobers Harry up a little, and he blinks slowly at Louis. Louis offers him the water and Harry gulps half of it down in less than a minute. 

“Thanks for taking care of me Louis, sorry,” Harry says softly. 

“You’re welcome Haz,” Louis responds warmly. “I promise that there is nowhere I would rather be than here.”

Louis and Harry walk slowly back to the Seekers’ dorm. Harry can generally support himself now, but Louis keeps his grip on Harry steady, partly for his own benefit. They enter the dorm, which is empty since Bebe, Nadia, and Marcus are still at the party. He sits Harry down on his bed and searches his box of potions for a Sober-Up potion. He owl-ordered a few after his vomiting session, vowing to never go through that ordeal again.

“Here, drink,” Louis hands the bottle to Harry. He dutifully downs the potion, wincing at the bitter taste. It takes around fifteen minutes to fully work, but it sends you right to sleep after; it truly is the perfect potion after a night out.

“Okay, it cannot be comfortable to sleep in those tight jeans,” Louis states. 

Harry looks down at his lap and grimaces. “My legs are always numb if I keep these on for too long.”

“Let me lend you some joggers.” Louis digs through his clothes and finds a pair that are too large on him, but would probably fit Harry. At the last second he grabs Harry a sweater as well.

“These should fit,” Louis hands them over. “I’m gonna change myself.”

Louis swipes a clean set for himself and changes in the bathroom. He splashes water on his face and stares at himself in the mirror for a second. “Keep it together Tommo,” he tells himself. He picks up his dirty clothes and drops them in his laundry basket when he enters his room. 

Harry has changed already and is under the covers on the left side of the bed. Louis mentioned weeks ago that he likes to sleep on the right side of the bed, so he’s touched that even drunk and tired Harry remembered that detail. Louis flicks off all the lights except for a glowing blue ball on the corner on his desk. He gets under the covers and faces the center of the bed, and he can see Harry mirroring him. Harry’s eyes are closed, but Louis can tell that he’s still awake. Louis is about to drift off when he hears Harry whisper.

“Thanks for being such a great person Louis. I’m really glad I met you this year. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Louis blushes and whispers back, “If it wasn’t obvious already, I feel exactly the same way, and I would pretty much do anything for you. You’re very quickly becoming the most important thing in my life.” 

It’s a bold statement, and Louis is a little nervous to see how Harry will take it. Unfortunately, it looks like Harry has finally dropped off to sleep, and might have missed everything that Louis just confessed. It might be for the better, because Louis isn’t ready to hear what Harry would have said back. He closes his eyes and lets his mind shut down fully.

Louis wakes up early in the morning and feels extra warm. He realizes it's because there is a body wrapped completely around him. Harry’s arms are curled around his stomach, and their legs are tangled together. He can hear soft snores coming from Harry, and the sun has not even risen fully yet. Louis smiles to himself and snuggles deeper into Harry’s hold. 

When Louis wakes up again hours later, he’s alone in his bed, and Harry is nowhere to be found. The only indication he was ever there is a neat pile of clothes folded on the edge of Louis’ bed.

\---

After the party, Harry seems to have completely vanished from Louis’ life. It’s like they reverted back to when they first met and only having small, meaningless interactions. But instead of Louis avoiding Harry, it’s Harry that is keeping his distance. And Louis is utterly confused. In his mind, they had a breakthrough. That next morning when he woke up alone, Louis no longer doubted that his feelings were one sided, and he looked forward to the next time he was alone with Harry. They had so much to talk about. 

But, that “moment alone” hasn’t yet come. It’s been two weeks now and Harry has gone out of his way to not be alone with Louis. Peterson has suspiciously not assigned the two of them any concepts to work on. Louis doesn’t know if Harry said anything to him or not, but it looks like he’ll never know. Louis can’t even use Niall to get information out of Harry. Harry has started his final rotation, Keeper, and has been spending almost all of his time with Maisie and the Chasers. Since the Keeper and Chasers need to practice together, the four of them have always gravitated to each other naturally. Louis cannot depend on Liam, mostly because he doesn’t really feel like explaining things to him. Also, Liam wouldn’t know how to snoop even if his life depended on it. Liam’s ability to hold secrets is a fat zero.

Louis discusses his thoughts with Niall one evening after practice. Niall had stopped coming around once Harry had been taking up most of Louis’ nights. Well, Louis’ calendar is wide open now.

“I just don’t know where I went wrong? Like there was something missing, and then we finally clicked, and he’s just gone?” Louis laments. He and Niall are sitting on Louis’ bed with the remainder of the sweets Louis’ mum sent spread out on the duvet between them. Louis is wearing the hoodie he had given Harry to wear that night. For some reason, Louis feels better whenever he wears it. Even though the elves have washed it and there is no physical trace of Harry on the clothes, just knowing that he’s worn it is a comfort.

“Louis, you can’t spiral like that,” Niall chides. “This vein of thinking has no good ending.”

“It’s really hard not to Ni. You know me. I get lost in my own thoughts. I feel like I was underwater for years, and then suddenly Harry pulled me up and showed me what was above the surface. And now that there’s no one holding me up, I’m struggling to not just sink again.”

“You cannot define yourself by another person Louis! You are one of the best Quidditch players of our generation, and you will continue to be, with or without Harry.” 

“But I feel like he made me better.”

“No Louis, you made yourself better, give yourself some credit,” Niall insists. “By opening yourself up, you became brighter, but you still _chose_ to do that.” 

Louis looks at Niall critically. Niall has never been this wise in the 5 years they’ve known each other.

“When the fuck did you get so knowledgable? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were my mind healer.”

Niall smirks. “Might have been during the lonely nights I had to sit in my own room all by myself.”

“Stop that, don’t make me feel unnecessarily guilty,” Louis slaps Niall’s shoulder. “You have ten million friends other than me.”

“Yeah, but none of them cuddle as well as you do,” Niall says and jumps on top of Louis, who yelps as he is smothered from head to toe. Niall slides down Louis’ chest and hugs him. Niall loves being the big spoon, and Louis lets him feel important. He’s been missing Harry’s cuddles, so he’s happy to feel Niall’s arms around him at this moment.

They lie together for a couple minutes before Louis speaks up again, “But seriously, what’s my next move here?”

Niall thinks for a moment. “Okay, the way I see it, you have two options. Number one. Pull him aside during practice or after dinner and get the answers you want. Make him talk to you and do not take any excuses.”

“Yeah that is a level of confrontation I do not have in me Niall.”

“Fine, option two. You move on and pretend that you never even knew the guy at all. Harry Styles becomes a blip in the history of your life. Maybe you can think about him in ten years and be like, ‘whatever happened to that guy?’”.

“Um so, that sounds equally horrible, what the fuck.”

Niall laughs and shrugs. “Louis, I feel like you already know what to do here and you’re using me to get out of talking to Harry.”

Louis groans. “Nialllllll. We both know that’s what I was doing, and you were out of line pointing that out.”

“Oh my apologies sir,” Niall mocks.

Louis steels himself internally. The only way to figure out what the hell ticked Harry off is to talk to him face to face. The problem is that it is getting late in the season, and Louis needs to put more focus on training and performing well in the exhibition match, which was only a few weeks away. 

Louis swivels to Niall and says, “Okay. We both agree that I need to talk to Harry. But, I need to focus on myself for a bit. I have all of the second half of the season to talk to Harry and figure him out. I need to prioritize myself right now.”

Niall pats Louis on the head patronizingly. “You’re a good child Louis, I’m proud of you.”

“Ugh fuck off Niall.”

\---

It all comes to a head right before the exhibition match. The Chasers were rightfully worried that they wouldn’t be able to all play in the match, since with Harry, there were four of them. However, Harry graciously insisted that he sit out of the match. Since Harry arrived out of the blue at the beginning of the season and didn’t get recruited by PQA, the exhibition match is not his to play in. 

Louis thinks this is obvious and that Harry should have naturally stepped aside; there was really no reason to praise him.

The match is the Friday before Christmas break starts, and they are told that every ticket has sold. Friends and family of PQA flyers get free entry into any exhibition match, even if the recruit themself is not playing in the match. News must have leaked out that Harry Styles was spending time at PQA, because the match sold out within minutes. While there are no reporters allowed on PQA grounds for privacy reasons, Louis has no doubt that many of the recruits at PQA wrote home about Harry’s appearance. It’s possible that people are buying tickets on the off chance they’d get to see Harry Styles play or see Des Styles in person.

PQA uses these ticket sales and visitor tours to supplement any costs that come with running an institution and a large estate. Niall told Louis that he heard that since the match is so popular this year, the school is thinking of adding extra stands around the pitch to make some extra gold. 

Regardless, this match could potentially be the most important one of Louis’ fledgling career. If Louis impresses the scouts during this match, he knows he will be on their radar for the next year. Scouts can be nearsighted, and once they lock on promising players, they might never look at the rest of the recruits again. Therefore, Louis knows it’s crucial to be on the short list after this match.

Two weeks before the match, on Monday, Peterson announces at the start of practice that Louis and Harry will be co-captaining the match for the third years, and from Wednesday onwards, the two of them will be running the practices up until the exhibition match next Friday. Peterson will stay and supervise and step in if needed, but ideally he wouldn’t have any input in what Louis and Harry decide to do.

Louis is shocked when Peterson names him and Harry co-captains for the match. While in hindsight it might have been expected, Louis is still blindsided. PQA coaches have never assigned two captains for any squad, so Louis can’t be blamed honestly. 

“I know this is unusual,” Peterson acknowledges, as Louis tries to get himself under control. “But I have seen both Harry and Louis in action this year, and together they have worked seamlessly. As you know, the two of them have been tirelessly creating and devising gameplans these past few months, some of which we have successfully recreated in practice.” 

Louis sees the Chasers nod; the very first play that Louis and Harry created together is still the most fruitful. The success rate is extraordinarily high for their first attempt. Granted the squad hasn’t tried this in a more competitive setting, but it looks like the upcoming exhibition match will be the place to test it out.

“I am going to check in on each of you during our meetings tomorrow,” Peterson continues. “This is your chance to build your portfolio and decide what _you_ need to show the professional scouts during the match. I don’t want to sugar-coat it. Your performance will be vital in securing your future. You’ve all worked tirelessly these past two and a half years. I am confident that each and every one of you has what it takes to make it big. Don’t fuck it up for yourselves. Take it seriously. Let your instinct be your guide.”

Louis can see that Niall is completely enthralled by Peterson’s speech, Richie and Maisie look a little sick, Nick and Cara seem excited, and Liam is biting his lip, possibly an indication of nerves. But Harry is completely stone cold. His face doesn’t give a single thing away. Even when Peterson revealed that they were both captains for the match, Louis couldn’t see any visible emotions on his face. 

Louis isn’t trying to constantly glance at Harry, but his eyes gravitate in Harry’s direction naturally. Not once was Harry meeting his eyes. He could probably feel Louis’ gaze, but he showed no indication otherwise.

Louis tunes back in to Peterson. “Alright, I know I might have scared the shit out of a couple of you, so today is going to be light. Take your omnioculars and watch the previous exhibition matches. You have a slight advantage over the fourth years. They don’t have any footage of any of you to study, but you have two matches to go through. Don’t waste that gift. Nick, Liam and Cara. I want you to study all three of the fourth year Chasers. Louis and Harry will decide who you will be marking during the match, but I recommend you study all of them. Same goes for you, Richie and Niall.”

Peterson pauses to stare them all down. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get to watching!”

Immediately, Maisie and Cara break off to head to the castle, chattering about what they just heard. Louis is slow to gather his things when he hears Peterson call his name.

“Tomlinson and Styles? Hang back for a minute please.”

Harry hasn’t moved from his spot on the bench he had been sitting on. Peterson motions his head over to the bench, and Louis takes it as an instruction to join Harry. He sits down next to him, but leaves at least a foot of space between them. Weeks ago, the space might have been nonexistent. 

“Boys, how are we feeling?” Peterson asks. “I just wanted to check in on both of you. I know I sprung the news on you both in front of everyone. I assume you’ll be fine working together? You’ve been doing well all season.”

Harry stays silent; Louis is sure as hell not going to be the one to break it. 

Peterson narrows his eyes, suspicious of the silence. Louis guesses it’s because the two of them have always been chatty with each other. Other than those awkward first couple of weeks together, Louis and Harry have never been this reserved together.

“Louis?” Peterson asks, and Louis curses inwardly. Trust Peterson to call him out.

Louis flounders for a second, unsure what to say in this situation. But...fuck it. Who cares what Harry thinks, and what’s going on in his head. This is Louis’ future on the line, and Harry freaking Styles should not be able to rattle Louis this much. Louis has always had an uphill climb, and this is just another steep section on his way to the top. You best believe that Louis is going to fucking blow the competition away during the exhibition match, Harry Styles be damned.

Louis stands up, startling both Coach Peterson and Harry, who has been staring at Louis this whole time with furrowed brows. 

“Thank you, Coach Peterson, for giving me this opportunity to coach my fellow peers, and perform at the highest amatuer level in the UK,” Louis says strongly. “I truly am honored that you chose me, and I am sure I speak for Harry as well when I say that we will not let you down.”

Peterson looks impressed; he definitely was not expecting some sort of formal declaration of intent from Louis.

“That’s great to hear!” Peterson exclaims. “I’ll let you boys chat about strategies. This is meant to be a learning opportunity for the both of you. I think you are both fully capable of succeeding independently, but, as always, I am here to bounce ideas off of. Good luck!” 

With that, Peterson disappears toward the ball shed, leaving Harry and Louis alone on the grounds. 

Louis makes the split second decision to take charge. “Listen Styles, I have no time for any bullshit. This match is very important to me, and I will not squander this opportunity just because you have some hang ups. We clear?”

Harry still hasn’t said anything. At this point, Louis is extremely confused. 

“I-” Harry stutters, but then suddenly and quickly stands up and rushes toward the castle. 

Louis gapes after him, with his jaw dropped. “What. The. Fuck.”

\---

After Harry all but disapparated from the pitch, Louis pushed all thoughts of him out of his mind. Peterson did ask them to go over footage from last year’s exhibition matches, and while Louis paid close attention to Marcus when he watched last year, he’s bound to have missed something crucial. 

He spends the rest of the day cataloguing and meticulously noting down all of Marcus’ quirks and habits. For example, Marcus likes to fly up high and scan downwards. Louis rarely saw him fly close to the ground and the stands. This means that if Louis maintains a median altitude, he has a better chance of reaching the Snitch first if the Snitch shows itself closer to the ground. 

Of course, it’s a fool's errand trying to predict Snitch movements. Many a Seeker have tried and failed to make some sort of sense of Snitch patterns. Perhaps it’s possible to study one specific Snitch and gain some insight. But all professional teams use brand new equipment for each match, to prevent tampering. PQA is no different.

He spent a little bit of his time looking at each of the other fourth years. As an acting captain of his squad, he’s got to know how all of the fourth years fly, not just Marcus.

By seven, Louis is completely exhausted. Even though he’s spent the entire day sitting down, the mental workout he’s finished has been extra taxing. It doesn’t help that his Harry-related stress is slowly taking over. It comes to the point that Louis has no choice but to confront Harry. 

As he heads downstairs to dinner, Louis decides that he must pull Harry aside tonight, or their brief stint as captains will be doomed.

Louis feels slightly better when he notices that all of the third years look as drained as he does. They’ve all gathered together to eat, and it’s mostly small talk around the table. One noticeable absence is the man who has been haunting Louis all day, Harry. 

Usually when he feels like shit, Louis glues himself to Niall’s side, just to get a taste of the calm energy that Niall always seems to emit. But, Niall’s surrounded by Richie and Cara, so Louis drops heavily into the empty seat next to Liam.

“Liam,” Louis groans. “I’m so fucked for this match. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m pretty sure Peterson gave me this job just to watch me fail.”

Liam side-eyes him as he spoons some pasta salad onto his plate. “Louis, I know you don’t actually think that, but I’m going to humor you because you look like you need some cheering up. You’re going to be fine, you are a capable person, and you are one of the sexiest people I know.”

Louis laughs loudly at that. He must really look like crap because Liam is not the type of person to call people sexy on the fly. “Thank you Payno, I really needed that. I think I’m just nervous and stressed.”

“I mean, we all are Tommo,” Liam says. “This is new and stressful for us too, and as our captain, we will be looking to you for strength.”

“I thought you were trying to chill me out, not put pressure on me!”

“Louis, this is me helping you! You should take that as a reason to focus. You thrive under pressure. I know this because I’ve seen you in games.” Liam drives this home by jabbing his index finger in Louis’ chest, causing him to wince slightly. “You are a world class Seeker, and you will be an even greater captain, I know it.”

Louis grins and wraps his arms tightly around Liam. “I love you, I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Liam returns the hug warmly.

Just as the two of them are about to separate, they hear a loud voice yelling, “Group hug? I want in!” They only have a couple seconds before Niall barrels into the two of them. Before Louis can even yelp, the remainder of the team is piling on to the cuddle pile. Louis has never felt so supported. 

When Louis is starting to feel claustrophobic, he yells, “Okay, okay, everyone chill out!”

There is laughter and snickers when the squad heads back to their seats. However, it seems like they are expecting him to say something, because all eyes are on Louis; even Nick is giving him his full attention.

Louis clears his throat, his nerves seeping back in. “Um, hey guys. I know Peterson’s announcement today was surprising, I know I myself was not expecting to be chosen as a captain-”

Louis is interrupted by Cara muttering, “I thought it was obvious,” but Louis sends her a look and she quickly mimes zipping her lips. 

Louis continues, “I know this is our first exhibition match, and there is literally no one who expects us to win this game. I mean, I can’t even remember when a third year team beat the fourth year team during the first game. But regardless, you can believe that I will be putting in my full effort to make sure we have a shot. I know Harry isn’t here at the moment, but I can guarantee he feels the same. So...here’s to us taking on the fourth years and kicking their asses!”

“Hear, hear!” the team choruses together, and Louis sees Niall send him a wink, which Louis grins at. 

Harry still hasn’t shown for dinner, so Louis turns his brain off and eats with the rest of the squad. 

The team ends up staying late, all of them taking the time to throw their suggestions at Louis. They’ve all spent the day watching footage of the previous matches, and each of them has their own gameplan. Louis tries to be a good captain, and finds a parchment and a Quick Quotes Quill to make sure that he doesn’t miss anything that they say. Some of the ideas are pretty ridiculous; for example, Nick thinks that he can mark both Annie and George. It’s one of the dumbest statements Louis’ ever heard. (Annie might be only 5 feet tall, but she is faster and more slippery than any Chaser he’s seen.) Still, Louis makes sure to capture this “idea”. Liam has a brilliant proposal, which involves some of the new plays that Harry and Louis have developed, and Louis might just use some of what he said.

By the time the house elves are kicking them out, Louis has three sheets full of notes, and he knows he’s going to be up all night looking them over. Louis admits to himself that he needs to show this to Harry too, but one step at a time.

The hallways are dark as the third years split off, and Louis heads to the Seekers’ dorm alone. The paintings on the walls are still alive with activity, even though the lights are dim. Louis watches them as he treads the familiar route to his room. 

The Seekers’ common room is empty, and the other Seekers’ doors are shut as well. As Louis makes his way down the corridor to his room, he notices someone sitting on the floor, leaning their head back against his door. Since the lamps are barely lit, and the fire in the hearth is in its dying moments, the person’s face is completely covered by darkness. Louis gets closer and almost yelps when he realizes it is Harry. Instead, he pauses in place and locks eyes with Harry. Louis likes to prepare for all situations, and his confrontation with Harry has not yet been fleshed out.

But, it looks like Harry came with his own material, because he stands up and says softly, “Hey Lou, have some time to chat?”

Louis nods and unlocks his door with his wand and leads Harry inside. While it’s only been less than a few weeks that Harry has last been inside Louis’ room, Harry’s eyes dart around as if he’s seeing it for the first time. 

Louis takes a seat on his bed, slightly embarrassed that his sheets are completely unmade. Harry continues standing in the middle of the room.

He looks at Louis and tilts his head to the left ever so slightly. “I never expected you, you know?”

“What are you talking about?” Louis crosses his arms defensively. He has no idea what Harry is trying to say here.

Harry starts slowly pacing back and forth in front of Louis’ bed. “When I first came here, I had no idea what was going to happen. I thought coming here would finally help me figure out what I was going to do with my life. I would finally figure out if I was meant to be doing Quidditch. I just felt like I was missing a part of me… and I didn’t know how to go about finding what was the piece I needed.”

Harry laughs and pulls at his hair. Louis has noticed that he does this when he’s nervous or frustrated, but he can’t tell which emotion is winning in this situation. 

“I didn’t even want to crash at PQA in the first place, did you know?” Harry asks.

Louis is confused. “What are you talking about? I thought your dad pulled some sort of favor to get you here?” While no one actually said this out loud, Louis is pretty sure the whole team has been collectively assuming this.

“That’s what I’ve let everyone believe; I didn’t really correct anyone. I don’t really care what they think. But it was actually Chester. He could see that I was struggling, and he wrote to Peterson. He basically told me two weeks before the season began at PQA that I would be joining in. He didn’t give me a choice at all, and sort of went behind my back to do it. I don’t even think he told my parents.”

“I… I had no idea, Haz.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I was completely pissed off, and I was planning to fuck off after a day or so at PQA. But the day before I arrived, I looked up everyone in year three, just to see what I would be up against. And then I saw your picture. And… I just was so hooked from that moment. When you first sassed me when I showed up in practice, it all just clicked. I knew what I was missing.”

“Harry,” Louis says, blushing at what Harry is implying. He’s speechless. While he was slowly figuring out his feelings for Harry might not be unrequited, he didn’t realize that Harry felt it as soon as he did.

“After that day with your indignant little face, I knew I had to stay at PQA, and adjusted all of my plans. And you were so cute with your nose and your eyes and your wrists and I just… And when we started actually talking and I found out how beautiful you were on the inside too, I really had no choice.”

“Stop, I’m nothing like that,” Louis begins. His cheeks are burning from all of the compliments that Harry’s doling out.

“But you are, Louis.”

“I hope you know that everything you are saying is exactly the same for me. I was so angry that this extremely attractive guy was going to end up being the bane of my existence. Niall can tell you all of the hours I spent complaining about how arrogant you were _and_ how cute I found you. It’s a wonder he didn’t just slap me.”

Harry smiles. He stops his pacing and joins Louis on the bed, taking his usual seat at the foot of the mattress. 

“I want to apologize for pulling away from you. I know I left you high and dry after Nick and Cara’s party. I guess you can say I freaked out a bit.”

“Yeah what was up with that? That was the first sign I got from you that you _may_ be interested in me the same way I was hung up on you. I mean, for the longest time, I was convinced you and Maisie had something going on.”

Harry chuckles and looks down at his feet. “Yeah, no, nothing like that will ever happen with her. She’s just a friend.” Harry pauses to collect his thoughts. “I guess I never really considered this part of myself. I had never consciously listened to it until I met you. Suddenly, I needed to be next to you, or talking to you, or just in your presence. It conflicted with what I knew to be normal in Quidditch.”

Louis reaches over and grabs Harry’s hand, scooting closer so their knees are touching. 

“Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not ashamed... or repressed or anything like that. I just… have so many expectations from my father, and the press, and everyone. I thought if I just ignored it and focused on what I knew, I’d be fine. But just two weeks without you was so, so difficult. Quitting cold turkey was physically impossible.”

“Harry,” Louis stresses, “You can’t let other people’s expectations run your life, especially your parents. You _have_ to fight for what you are passionate about, and stick with it! You think my parents would have allowed me to drop out of school if I wasn’t 100 percent in this? Absolutely not. I think you’ve been told what you were supposed to do for so long, you don’t really know what direction to go in.”

“I think I’m slowly figuring it out. You’ve been a big part of that journey. I… am really, really fond of you. Almost too much it scares me.”

Louis links their fingers together and grins. Harry’s hesitance fades when he sees the happiness glowing on Louis’ face. “If you haven’t gotten it already, I’m right there with you. So much so that this season I’ve even stopped thinking about Quidditch sometimes, and _that_ scares me.”

“Well here’s some advice I can give you. I think you are allowed to have more than one passion in life. I know Quidditch has been your mantra for years, but I’ve seen you open up when you’re with me, and we are just blabbering about whatever. Your eyes relax. It’s freeing to see.”

“I’ve come to realize these past few months that it only happens with you Harry. I think you could be my second passion.” Harry’s dimples deepen upon hearing that, but immediately disappear when a large yawn slips out of his mouth.

“Sorry,” Harry sighs. “I haven’t been sleeping well with all of this on my mind.”

Louis gets on his knees and tugs Harry slowly until he moves toward Louis and into a lying down position. “Come and rest with me Harry. I think we both need some physical comfort right now. We can figure out everything else in the morning.”

The two of them settle against the pillows and under Louis’ thick blankets. It’s close to the end of December, and Mulberry doesn’t have the best heating system. Once again, Harry and Louis are facing each other as they get ready to sleep. This time, Louis doesn’t feel any apprehension or doubt that Harry will be there when they wake up.

“Hey Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“You never told me if you figured out what you wanted to about Quidditch.”

“I think…I did. My love for Quidditch is intact, but I think it’s different. I realize that what really calls me is the coaching side of it. I think it was the moment we started brainstorming together. I just loved it. Even catching the Snitch or scoring a difficult shot on the Keeper couldn’t come close to arguing with you about different strategies.”

Louis smiles. Of course. How could they have not figured it out? Harry is brilliant, and Louis knows this is the right path for him.

“That’s absolutely brilliant H, you will smash it. I dare say your Uncle Chester will be more excited than you are.”

Harry giggles, turning on to his back. “You might just be right about that.”

The silence fills the air again, and Louis can hear Harry’s breaths evening. 

“Hey Harry?” Louis whispers.

“Yeah Lou?” Harry replies, just as quietly.

“In case it wasn’t glaringly clear, I absolutely adore you, and I am really proud of you.”

“Hey Lou?”

“Yeah H?”

“In case it wasn’t extremely obvious, I feel the exact same.”

\---

When Louis feels his wand buzz the next morning, he reaches his arm blindly to cancel the spell. It’s only then he realizes that his entire body is engulfed in Harry. Harry has wrapped his arm around Louis’ middle and shoved his leg between Louis’. Since Louis runs a little cold, he’s appreciating the extra body heat. It’s deja vu.

After gently tapping Harry awake, the two of them spend the next couple hours at breakfast discussing everything that the team suggested the previous night as well as their general strategy for the next 10 days. Begrudgingly, they decide to put their mutual feelings on the backburner, and focus on their co-captain relationship until the match is over. 

The next two weeks are filled with team practices and team meetings throughout the day; then, Harry and Louis hole up in Louis’ room after dinner, reworking and restrategizing their plans. The captain for the fourth years is Barry, one of the Beaters. The current fourth years won their second exhibition match against the previous fourth years, and that was due in most part to Barry, who was selected as captain for that match as well. 

Barry’s previous strategy has been brute force, going for power and purpose over speed and skill. It worked with the squad last year, so Harry is pretty convinced he’ll use the same moves here. To counteract this, they are planning on utilizing the hard work they’ve done all year and try to confuse the fuck out of the fourth years. Harry and Louis spent hours devising a set of hand signals for each of the different plays they might use. With Harry in the coaches box, he has the opportunity to see everything that’s going on above.

By the time his wand buzzes the morning of the match, Louis is already wide awake. He hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few nights, and his brain was running wild at three in the morning. Harry doesn’t seem to be affected at all, since he is peacefully snoring next to Louis, unaware that Louis has been up for hours. Harry hasn’t slept in his own bed since the night they confessed their feelings for each other.

Louis knows he should have tried to get some real sleep, but his eyes couldn’t stay shut for more than a few hours at a time. As soon as the morning sun peeked behind the clouds, Louis gave up on trying to get some rest, and instead watched Harry breathe slowly, completely oblivious to the world. Louis understood on some level that it was creepy to watch someone sleep, but somehow it calmed down his racing heart to see Harry so unbothered and quiet. 

“Harry,” Louis whispers as he gently brushes strands of Harry’s hair off his forehead. “It’s game day.”

Harry groans in response, and turns his head into the pillow. “I’m busy,” he mumbles, his voice muffled by the pillow. 

Louis wraps his arms around Harry and rests his head on Harry’s chest. He traces random patterns on Harry’s forearms, watching as little goosebumps appear as his fingers trail over skin.

He hears Harry breathe deeply and sees him open his eyes. “You ready for the day Lou?” Harry asks. “I hope you at least got some sleep last night. I know you haven’t been sleeping since I felt you toss and turn every hour.”

Louis shrugs. “I got enough. I’m too jittery to close my eyes. The last time I felt this much energy was the day I had tryouts for PQA.”

“And look what happened. Here you are, being a star.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, babe,” Louis laughs and sits up. He drags his feet out the bed and tugs at Harry. “Come on, up you get. We have to at least eat something.”

They wash up and pull their Quidditch uniform on. Each year is assigned a color, and theirs is dark teal color, not quite green but not quite blue either. The robes are only to be worn during exhibition matches, so this is the first time that Louis has put them on. They fit like a glove. Harry takes the time to lovingly fasten all of Louis’ arm and shin guards. 

When Louis and Harry walk into the dining hall, they see that they are the last two from their year to arrive. Everyone is gathered around one of the big tables, dressed in their new robes as well. The fourth years are on the opposite side of the hall in their golden robes. At the very least, PQA chose colors that weren’t too garish or ugly.

It’s gone just past 9 in the morning, and the match is set to start at 11. All the spectators, family, friends, and strangers would arrive somewhere between 10 and the start time, and Louis wants to see his family right before the match. He tries not to think about the fact that the scouts are arriving soon as well. Right now, he has to think about getting through the match, and then he can think about whether the Wasps think he’s professional Seeker material.

The table is quiet when Harry and Louis sit down, so Louis breaks the silence with, “How are we all feeling?”

Louis hears some murmurs here and there, but for the most part the table is still silent. Even Nick and Niall, the two loudest people in the world, have nothing to say. Niall is pushing his eggs around his plate, and Nick seems to be very interested in his cup of tea.

Maisie takes pity on Louis and finally says something. “I think we are all a little nervous Louis. Not really sure what to expect.”

Harry speaks up. “You all have such long faces. This is supposed to be the best day of your life! Louis and I have watched you play this week, and I for one am certain we will win this match. There is no better squad than ours. I challenge you to find one who can even come close.”

The passion in Harry’s voice must do something, because Niall mimes fanning himself and drawls, “Harry stop it, I’m getting too hot and bothered.”

The tension breaks, and the team delves into small talk. 

Louis pours himself a cup of tea and grabs a slice of toast. He slathers some butter on it and scarfs it down in seconds. He’s been up for five hours, so his body is ready for some grub.

Louis leans over to Harry and says softly, “Hey, thanks for that. I don’t think I could have captained these lot without you.”

Harry smiles and links his hand with Louis’ under the table. “Dream team, remember? When we are together, no one can beat us.”

Louis squeezes his hand, and turns his attention back to his tea. If he wants to be awake all day, he’s going to need at least three cups of caffeine. Their hands stay connected throughout breakfast until the clock strikes 10. The food disappears, and an owl soars in to drop a note on Louis’ lap. His family is here in one of the large waiting halls in Mulberry. Louis shows the note to Harry who nods. Louis separates from Harry and drops a quick kiss on his head, ignoring the shocked looks on the rest of the team’s faces. He’ll join up with the team before game time, and leaves Harry to deal with the aftermath of his action.

It’s lovely seeing his family. While they write back and forth as often as possible, nothing beats being surrounded by his siblings. The younger kids are excited and ask all about his plans, while the older girls demand any gossip about Harry Styles. Louis laughs outright at that, but doesn’t share any information they don’t already know. He and Harry have barely started discussing their relationship, and he’s not quite ready to tell anyone until they themselves have decided.

He’s forced to tear himself away when he notices the time. He’s cutting it close, but he gets to the locker room just in time to see Peterson calling for his yearmates. Everyone, with the exception of Harry, is clutching their brooms tightly.

“Team, before I say anything, I just want to say how proud I am to be your coach. This season especially has been inspiring. I have watched you all flourish and thrive, and I have no doubt that Tomlinson and Styles have been taking good care of you all. I’ve been watching practices this week very carefully, and I can say with full authority that I think Coach Singh’s fourth years are in for the fight of their life. Niall and Richie? The two of you work as a well oiled machine. Liam, Cara, and Nick? Never have I seen three Chasers read each other’s minds like you all do. Maisie? You have the fastest reflexes on the pitch, and I know that Quaffle is going nowhere near your hoops. And finally, Harry and Louis? Seeing you two lead practices so beautifully this week, I just hope I’m not out of a job. And Louis, I’d be surprised when that final whistle blows if the Snitch is not in your hands. Now...who’s ready to win?”

The team erupts into claps and cheers. These are the nicest words Peterson has ever said about any of them, and Louis can feel tears prick his eyes. He didn’t think he would get that emotional. Louis locks eyes with Harry, and they both feel the love radiating throughout the room. 

“Louis and Harry? Any final words before we head out?” Peterson asks as the team settles down.

Harry gestures to Louis. Louis turns to the team and says, “I think Coach has pretty much covered it. You all know what to do; just keep eyes out for any signals from me or Harry. I trust you.”

And with that, and one final round of claps, Peterson leads the team out. Louis can hear the announcer calling their names as his teammates step out on the pitch.

Just before Louis walks out, Harry pulls him aside. They are the last two in the locker room. 

Harry grabs Louis’ face with both hands, and proclaims, “I am so happy we are here Louis. I am so proud of you, and I… I hope you know how I feel.”

Louis smiles. He can feel the love flowing between them, even if neither of them have said the words. It’s obvious and mutual.

“Ditto, love. See you on the flip side.”

When the starting whistle sounds, the third years shoot up in the air, and the Quaffle immediately finds its way into Cara’s hands. Louis flies slightly higher than the main gameplay, but not as high as Marcus, who has predictably taken a spot much higher. From his height, Louis can see Harry clearly in the coaches box, and any hand signals he might make.

For the first 15 minutes of the game, Louis and Harry decided to let it play out naturally, with no set instructions in mind. Each player has been given another to mark, but other than that, the game is unplanned. The real goal is to see if Barry has made any changes in the way his squad flies. From the first couple minutes, it looks like he’s continued with his strategy from last year’s match. The Chasers are going straight down the middle, using their Beaters as shields whenever the Quaffle is in their hands. 

There’s a reason it worked last time, they are 15 minutes into the game and the score is already 40 - 20 in favor of Louis’ opponents. The third years scored the first two goals in quick succession, but have been dry ever since. Meanwhile, Louis and Marcus have been circling the pitch, the Snitch yet to make an appearance. 

Louis decides it’s time to switch it up and catches Harry’s eye. Harry sends him a nod, and circles his left ring finger with his right hand. It’s one of their weirder plays, but it’s a good way to let the fourth years understand what they are up against.

Louis flies down into the thick of the game, and gestures the play to Liam when he wooshes by. Liam smirks and lets Cara and Nick know the plan. Nick manages to use the tail of his broom to whack the Quaffle away from George and right into his hands. Once he’s gotten the ball, Liam and Cara close in on him and fly in a tight circle around Nick. They pick up speed and the crowd can only see a teal blur on the pitch, heading steadily toward the hoops.

This quickly confuses the fourth years, and Louis sees the other Beater Ed aim a Bludger right into the middle of the Chasers, but Niall reads him and redirects the Bludger back to Ed. 

The Chasers suddenly break out of their tight flying right in front of the Keeper Genevieve, who puts all her attention on Nick. But during the huddle, Nick had tossed the Quaffle to Cara, who remained unguarded by the lower ring. She scored easily, and the third years were back in the game. 

Louis whoops loudly when the score is announced, and he can see Harry and Peterson rejoice in the stands. 

And with that, the game was on. The score remains tight for the next hour, and the Snitch just as elusive. The two teams are never more than 30 points apart, each squad grabbing the lead from the other. 

Louis gets a thumbs up signal from Harry, indicating he wants them to run the very first play they developed, where the Seeker dives between the Chasers as a distraction. It’s a play solely for the Seeker, so he doesn’t need to tell any of the Chasers the plan. 

He sees Annie grab the Quaffle out of Liam’s hands, and makes a move. He makes a sharp dive right in her flight path, startling her. Louis and Marcus have been relatively quiet compared to the rest of the team, so this is the first major Seeker movement anyone has seen. The crowd gets excited as well, thinking he’s spotted the Snitch and is diving for it. Marcus panics and heads down to where Louis is, hoping to catch a glimpse of what Louis has seen. 

The distraction works, because with both Marcus and Louis disrupting the flow of the game, Liam has the chance to steal the Quaffle back and speed towards the hoops. The Quaffle sails neatly through the sticks, and the game is tied again. 

Louis is about to turn to signal Harry when he spots the Snitch, hovering in place just under the base of the coaches box. Unfortunately, Marcus is closer, so as soon as Louis dives, Marcus will catch on and reach the Snitch first. But it hits Louis that this is the perfect time to pull off a Wronski Feint. He’s been waiting years to try it out in a real game; ever since Harry clocked it during their solo night session, Louis hasn’t had a chance to try it out again.

He waits until Marcus’ eyes look in his direction and then dives down. He increases his speed instantly, using that as a cue to fool Marcus into thinking this was a real dive. Marcus takes the bait, and flies toward Louis, leaving the Snitch wide open. As soon as Louis feels Marcus creeping up behind him, he turns sharply and shoots off in the direction of where the Snitch actually is. Marcus misses it and continues close to the ground. He’s forced to pull up just before he hits the ground. Louis can hear a loud swear as Marcus realizes he’s been fooled, but Louis is too far ahead of him.

The Snitch must realize it’s being watched, and it starts to move upwards. However, this turns out to be in Louis’ favor as the Snitch flies just within reach and Louis grabs it in his left hand. 

He slows his broom down and stops right in front of the coaches box as the rest of his team surrounds him. The noise of the stadium fades out, and the only thing he can see is the Snitch in his hand. There are hands grabbing him, and he’s pretty sure Niall kissed him on the cheek. Louis turns his head and sees Harry, and all he can do is beam. Harry looks ecstatic, and Louis is engulfed with the amount of love he has for that boy.

The sound returns abruptly, and Louis is forced down to the ground by the mass of people around him, and when his feet finally touch solid earth, he stumbles. His legs are shaking from what they just pulled off. They are the first team of third years to defeat the fourth years in their first exhibition match, completely unprecedented. 

The announcer is calling out the names and the final score, but Louis can only focus on finding Harry. In the rush to get to the ground, Louis has lost sight of where his boy is. 

His team still surrounds him, and he can hear Niall and Liam shouting over each other, as the three of them sink into a group hug.

“You smashed it Louis! I fucking told you!”

“You did it, Lou, I had all the faith.”

Louis has tears in his eyes, and he laughs wetly. “Thanks boys, I love you so much. Niall, you were so ferocious, and Liam… just fucking amazing.”

He can’t seem to find the right words to tell these boys how much they mean to him, but they seem to get it. They only break apart when Peterson comes to them, Niall and Liam quietly leaving them alone. Peterson claps them both on the back as they leave. Louis slips the Snitch he caught into his pocket.

“Louis Tomlinson. What did I tell you? I knew you were a star the second I saw you.”

Louis wraps his arms around Peterson’s middle; Peterson was not expecting this as he stumbles backward with the unexpected weight of Louis. But he returns the hug and pats Louis on the back. 

“It was all you Coach. You believed, so I believed,” Louis stutters out.

“And that is how teams work, son.”

Louis can see Harry talking to Chester Edwards of the Magpies out of the corner of his eye. In fact, he can see many scouts walking around and talking to various players, both third and fourth years. Louis pulls out of the hug as Harry finally notices him. “I’ll be right back,” Louis blurts out as he steps away from Peterson. Peterson only gives him a smile as he motions for Louis to go.

Louis walks purposefully to where Harry and Edwards are standing. He can see his family in the crowd, but he’ll get to them soon. Right now, there was only one thing on his mind. As he gets closer to Harry, he sees Edwards turning to meet him.

“Louis Tomlinson? I’m Chester Edwards from the Montrose Magpies,” he offers, holding out a hand for Louis to shake.

Louis takes his hand and shakes it on autopilot, not really sure what he should be saying in this situation. “Um hello sir, I definitely know who you are, and it is _very_ nice to meet you.”

Edwards laughs, a sound that comes directly from his belly. “You were excellent out there today, and Harry was just telling me about you. We here at the Magpies are very interested in you, so please keep an eye out for an owl in the future. Now I suspect you’ve really come my way to talk to Mr. Harry here, so I’ll let you two chat.”

Louis is once again speechless. “I– wow, um yes, I am also very interested, thank you so much sir! I’m a big fan of the Magpies organization.”

Edwards sends him a wink and starts walking off in another direction, “I’ll be in touch.”

Finally, Louis and Harry are alone, and Louis can’t wait any longer. He doesn’t care that they are in the middle of a crowd and there are hundreds of strangers surrounding them. Louis rushes at Harry and drops his Firebolt, which he still had in his hand. He puts his arms around Harry’s shoulders and slots their lips together. Luckily Harry is on the same page, and he runs his hands down Louis’ back until they rest on his hips. Harry’s lips are soft and warm and everything Louis has dreamed of since he first saw him. Harry pulls away slowly, opening his eyes as he does. Louis can’t help but softly bite Harry’s lower lip as they separate. 

“Louis–” Harry starts to say, before Louis jumps in.

“I love you Harry. I know it's too soon and… we’ve barely talked about it, but I love you,” Louis confesses. 

Harry squeezes his sides, and leans his forehead to Louis’. “Louis Tomlinson, I am so fucking in love with you, you have no idea how much. I can’t believe we pulled this off.”

Louis laughs and hugs Harry, moving his nose to Harry’s neck. “It only worked because it was us. Dream team.”

“I was just talking to Chester, and I told him about how I loved coaching, and he’s suggested I stay at PQA and learn the ropes from Peterson.”

Louis gasps. “Does this mean you’ll be here with me?”

Harry bites his lip. “Does that sound like something you’d want?”

Louis answers by connecting their lips again briefly. He pulls back and laughs, “How could I be mad that my boyfriend will be with me?”

“Boyfriend, huh?”

“I mean,” Louis says shyly, “if you’re interested.”

Harry laughs. “I don’t think you could keep me away if you tried.”

And Louis knew that they would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave kudos, comments, or reblog the [fic post](https://alongwayfromtheplayground.tumblr.com/post/626837726763859968/do-i-wanna-know-by-alongwayfromtheplayground)! Thank you for reading!


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